‘The Little Mermaid’ makes a $95.5M opening weekend part of her world
The Halle Bailey-led Disney remake tops the ‘Aladdin’ remake’s debut.
Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of May 26-28, 2023.
1. The Little Mermaid
Weekend gross: $95.5M
Total domestic gross: $95.5M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA
The Little Mermaid, the newest installment in Disney’s line of live-action remakes, dove into theaters this weekend. As we moved closer to The Little Mermaid’s release, it was pretty clear that this one was going to be a box office hit. The question was just how big of a hit.
The Halle Bailey-led Little Mermaid scored a $95.5 million opening weekend in North America, just missing out on a $100 million three-day weekend but still beating the $91.5 million that the Aladdin remake opened with in 2019.
Does The Little Mermaid have the legs to keep pulling in moviegoers as we move into June? The film came up well short of The Lion King’s $191.8 million opening weekend, which led to that remake making $620.2 million domestically and $1.65 billion worldwide.
2. Fast X
Weekend gross: $23M
Total domestic gross: $108M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: 66
A 66 percent drop is not great for Fast X’s second weekend in theaters, but it’s in line with previous films in the Fast & Furious franchise. Fast and Furious 6 fell 64 percent its second weekend in 2013, Furious 7 fell 60 percent its second weekend in 2015, The Fate of the Furious fell 61 percent its second weekend in 2017, and F9: The Fast Saga fell 67 percent its second weekend.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Weekend gross: $20M
Total domestic gross: $299.4M
Last weekend: 2nd
Percent drop: 38
Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues to hold very well weekend to weekend, dropping just 38 percent between its third and fourth weekends in theaters. The third Guardians movie is now just a handful of change away from cracking the $300 million mark in North America. In terms of the Guardians movies themselves, Vol. 3 it still trails its two predecessors on both the domestic and worldwide charts.
4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Weekend gross: $6.3M
Total domestic gross: $558.9M
Last weekend: 3rd
Percent drop: 35
The Super Mario Bros. Movie has jumped up two spots on the worldwide box office chart since last weekend, passing Incredibles 2 and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast remake in the process. With a $1,276,707,000 haul, Mario now sets its sights on Frozen’s $1,284,540,518 worldwide number.
5. The Machine
Weekend gross: $4.9M
Total domestic gross: $4.9M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA
Huh. I guess Bert Kreischer taking off his shirt every time he’s on camera isn’t enough of a gimmick to make a movie a hit …
Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.
Next weekend
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse!
Sorry. I’m excited about this one. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is arguably the greatest Spider-Man movie (yes, sorry, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and is a groundbreaking animated film. The reactions I’ve seen online to early screenings of the sequel are universally positive, and it looks like the team behind these films has another iconic film in store for us with Across the Spider-Verse.
