“The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to live under the sea over Memorial Day weekend.
Disney’s live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic easily outpaced the competition, earning $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
And Disney estimates that the movie starring Halle Bailey as mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. This is the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time.
It displaced “Fast X” at the top spot. The 10th installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind the recently released series, earning $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.
In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” earned an estimated $20 million in North America for third place. It has now made $299 million domestically.
Fourth went to Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which continues to reach new levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still made $6.3 million in theaters. Its cumulative total of $559 million makes Mario & Luigi the biggest earner of the year so far.
Comics couldn’t cope with Ariel as the week’s other new releases bogged down.
“The Machine”, an action comedy starring stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with $4.9 million domestically. And “About My Father”, a broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with $4.3 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “The Little Mermaid,” $95.5 million.
2. “Fast X,” $23 million.
3. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $20 million.
4. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $6.3 million.
5. “The Machine,” $4.9 million.
6. “About My Father,” $4.3 million.
7. “Kandahar,” $2.4 million.
8. “You Hurt My Feelings,” 1.4 million.
9. “Evil Dead Rise,” $1 million.
10. “Book Club, The Next Chapter,” $920,000.
