The Little Mermaid box office: How much has it made?

Here’s how much 2023’s The Little Mermaid remake has made at the box office so far.

Given so many of Disney’s animated classics have been given the live-action treatment in recent years, from Aladdin to Peter Pan, it’s no surprise the House of Mouse turned its attention to the 1989 hit The Little Mermaid. 

Sadly, the lead-up to the movie was plagued with controversy and discrimination after Halle Bailey was cast as the lead role of Ariel. Some trolls even started review-bombing the flick, although IMDb and other sites are taking action. 

But, let’s face it – most people are delighted to see Ariel and Co a part of our world once more, and this is reflected in the box office earnings.

How much has The Little Mermaid made at the box office?

The Little Mermaid remake has made more than $414 million at the worldwide box office so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

This includes approximately $228 million from domestic markets and $185 million from international audiences.

The Little Mermaid made a splash in its opening weekend with an estimated $163.5 million. This figure includes a three-day opening of $95.5 million and an international box office score of $68.3 million.

With such a successful debut, experts were feeling hopeful last week. Steve Buck, EntTelligence’s chief strategy officer, told The Wall Street Journal: “The Mermaid result is pretty decent for what it is. As a family film it seems to be hitting all the right marks. 

“With Mermaid, you see a bit lower performance at the box office, but that’s because 28% of its viewers are kids, and they’re paying a discounted price for tickets.”

Elsewhere, Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told Variety: “This gives Disney the green light to keep mining its vault. With an opening this big, I think you’re going to keep seeing these live-action reboots.”

However, now some are unsure whether the movie can make a huge profit given that it’s also got to match an alleged $250 million production budget and $140 million marketing cost – and the competition is strong now that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is out.

As said by Movieweb, The Little Mermaid needs to gross approximately $560 million to break even, adding: “Basically, the $560 million break-even scenario accounts for an exhaustion of the film’s potential revenue streams beyond its theatrical life and leaves little possibility for the film to be able to achieve any substantial profit for Disney.”

We’ll be sure to keep this space updated as and when new figures roll in. 

The Little Mermaid is available to watch in cinemas now. You can check out the rest of our coverage of the movie here.