Disney’s live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid is hitting Disney+ on Sept. 6, after a very hearty 103 theatrical window.
The Little Mermaid debuted over the four-day Memorial Day weekend to $118.8M domestic. Worldwide it had a $164M start.
The pic, directed by Rob Marshall, grossed north of $564M worldwide, however, wasn’t the billion success of other Disney live-action takes of their animated pics, i.e. Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Little Mermaid faced headwinds at offshore markets due to the casting of Halle Bailey in the lead role; this despite rave reviews, Deadline’s Pete Hammond extolling that the actress “simply soars, a gorgeously conceived Disney princess who longs to become human just to check it out. Bailey’s vocals alone are the price of admission including making her signature ‘Part Of Your World’ thrilling to behold.”
The Little Mermaid fared better stateside than overseas, grossing $297M to $267M.
The early September frame is not one to be ignored for Disney+, which began eventizing it during Covid with the streaming release of live-action pic, Mulan. That movie saw its theatrical release halted due to the closure of cinemas. Mulan debuted on Sept 4, 2020, and pulled in per Samba TV 1.12M viewers over its three-day opening weekend.