‘The Little Mermaid’ Makes Box Office Splash With $95.5 Million Opening

NEW YORK: “The Little Mermaid ” made moviegoers want to be underwater on Memorial Day weekend.

According to studio estimates, Disney’s live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in 95.5 million dollars on 4,320 screens in North America.

According to Voice of America, Disney estimates that the movie starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach 117.5 million dollars by the time the weekend is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.

It displaces “Fast X” in the top spot. The 10th instalment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in 23 million dollars domestically for a two-week total of 108 million dollars for Universal Pictures.

In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” made an estimated 20 million dollars in North America to take third place. It’s now made 299 million dollars domestically.

Fourth went to Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Film,” which keeps reaching the latest levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still earned 6.3 million dollars in theatres. Its cumulative total of 559 million dollars makes Mario and Luigi the year’s biggest earners so far.

Comics couldn’t stand up to Ariel as the week’s other new releases sank.

“The Machine,” an action comedy starring stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with 4.9 million dollars domestically. And ” About My Father,” the broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with 4.3 million dollars.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at United States and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.