Disney's Live Action The Little Mermaid

[TP2000]

Are you thinking western countries found different reasons to have a problem with it, or the same main reason just in a smaller percentage?

In my travels, I have found Americans and American culture to be far more open to racial differences than many foreign cultures.

Japan is a rather extreme example of that current race-based prejudice in my personal experience, but there are several southern or eastern European countries/cultures that also spring to mind that I have personal experience with.

Without listing all the practices and customs that many overseas countries still have that seem like Alabama Circa 1958 to us modern Americans, it's a fact that Little Mermaid had disastrous box office overseas that really undercut its modest domestic box office.

 

[Jedijax719]

I guess there's still the sing-a-long that could possibly boost it up to $300 million domestic.

 

[Phroobar]

All movies eventually make money. Plan 9 from Outer Space is considered a flop but it made money years later. However who gets that money is another question entirely. In Hollywood most distributors are pretty corrupt. The original creators rarely see the profits even in streaming. Lloyd Kaufman, the creator the Toxic Avenger movies, has seen viewership of his movies go up but he rarely makes enough from streaming to pay for lunch.

There is more to a movie making a profit than our little minds know. Here is an excellent documentary on the death of the independent film industry that explains how distributors work.

VHS Massacre Too (2020) - Plot - IMDb

VHS Massacre Too (2020) - Plot summary, synopsis, and more...

www.imdb.com

 

[Disstevefan1]

I guess there's still the sing-a-long that could possibly boost it up to $300 million domestic.

YaY sing along with the Scuttlebutt song !!!

 

[BrianLo]

I've learned to judge how pop-culture trends are going by what costumes show up on my porch on Halloween, and what the toy aisle looks like at Target. It's alarming yet impressive how accurate those two data points can be.

Remind me how well that index worked for Avatar again?

Honestly I'm jesting a little bit. It isn't the worst metric, just not infallible. There's a component of feasibility to costumes. I never remember Mermaid costumes in my childhood, despite the undeniable popularity of the '89 film.

Though every little girl (and still some) wanted to be a mermaid. It was just more of a beach-play event. Granted our Halloween was sometimes mixed with snow

 

[erasure fan1]

Remind me how well that index worked for Avatar again?

Honestly I'm jesting a little bit. It isn't the worst metric, just not infallible. There's a component of feasibility to costumes. I never remember Mermaid costumes in my childhood, despite the undeniable popularity of the '89 film.

Avatar is one of the biggest outliers of this ever. It's why so many people thought an Avatar land was a bad idea. It left almost zero pop culture footprint. A lot of people laugh at the idea of stuff like Halloween costumes. But it is a decent gauge of how something is trending. Like you said, it's not the end all be all, but it does give some good insight in my opinion.

 

[Phroobar]

Avatar is one of the biggest outliers of this ever. It's why so many people thought an Avatar land was a bad idea. It left almost zero pop culture footprint. A lot of people laugh at the idea of stuff like Halloween costumes. But it is a decent gauge of how something is trending. Like you said, it's not the end all be all, but it does give some good insight in my opinion.

There is still a lot of Avatar toys sitting with Wakanda and Buzz Lightyear stuff at Target clearance aisles. Little Mermaid stuff doesn't move and is getting discounted too. I think toys are not a good measure because kids don't collect movie toys anymore and product distribution has been terrible over the last ten years. The Barbie aisle still looks exactly the same before and after the movie release.

It isn't like the old days where Star Wars toys sold in huge volumes. There is still a lot of Star Wars product being released but most of it won't go to retail. It is all online. Movie ip stuff at retail doesn't sell anymore either.

 

[BrianLo]

Avatar is one of the biggest outliers of this ever. It's why so many people thought an Avatar land was a bad idea. It left almost zero pop culture footprint. A lot of people laugh at the idea of stuff like Halloween costumes. But it is a decent gauge of how something is trending. Like you said, it's not the end all be all, but it does give some good insight in my opinion.

Which is also why I'll say Iger gets simultaneously too much and too little credit based on the discussion point of the day.

The man rarely personally bets on a franchise, but he has consistently bet on Avatar. The land addition to AK was entirely his own idea and even caught Tom Stagg's who was P&R at the time off base. Iger solely sought out that deal on his own and brought it to Imagineering and the public at the same time. That's weird and uncharacteristically non-Iger. But he did it again this past January.

I think the Fox acquisition is a bit larger than Avatar, but the man also specifically bought the franchise at the end of the day too. It's hard to say Iger deserves 100percent credit for the failings of HM, a director he never even bothered to meet and none for Avatar, a director he spent years wining, dining and cozying up to because he believed in the franchise that almost frankly no one else thought was anything but a one-hit wonder.

Avatar is a 3-hit wonder now. Pandora was frankly even bigger of an attendance driver than Galaxy's Edge was. But it isn't the usual Disney-type franchise, with its strangely meagre merchandise appeal.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Honestly I'm one that had made up my mind to an extent (in that I didn't have any desire to see it and there wasn't much that would change my mind). But, part of that is on Disney. The trailer ticked every box of me not wanting to see it. It may have turned out a lot better (I'm not questioning you saying it did FYI), but the trailer was dark, the CGI looked bad, and it showed me it's essentially just the same story with a couple songs from Lin (who, hot take, I'm totally sick of as well, but different topic). It may not have played out like that at all, but the trailer confirmed what someone like me feared would be the case.

I fall into this category also, I can’t remember the last time I saw a remake in the theater and nothing about the marketing of this one justified changing that.

I used to see every marvel movie in the theater also and have skipped the last several Marvel movies too, I think I’m just burned out, Disney is putting out so much content now I’m having a hard time getting excited for any of it, the haunted mansion being the lone exception.

It’ll be curious to see if any of the recent movies become classics or not, I‘ve been deep cleaning the last few days and so far have ”watched” Lilo and Stitch, Moana, and Encanto while doing it, Encanto is the last Disney movie (for me) that’s been worthy of repeat viewing, I’ve seen all the recent stuff on D+ and havent had a desire to rewatch any of it yet.

 

[wtyy21]

Oppenheimer overseas box office numbers are expected to surpass TLM's overseas ones this week, with estimated $323M overseas BO. Also, due to Elemental's release in Japan and very good WOM there than TLM received, Elemental's overseas numbers also expected to have same numbers or surpass TLM's overseas numbers soon (expected $269M-$270M), assuming that Elemental had $270M-$290M overseas BO incl Japan.

‘Oppenheimer’ Soaring Past $700M Global Box Office Today, Will Overtake Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ On Sunday

Christopher Nolan and Universal’s Oppenheimer is on its way to yet another milestone, poised to cross $700M globally through today.

deadline.com

 

[Jedijax719]

Are they re-releasing the movie as a sing-a-long in the theaters? I wonder if Disney will force a way for it to hit $300 million domestic because $297-$298 million is certainly an odd look.

 

[TP2000]

Oppenheimer overseas box office numbers are expected to surpass TLM's overseas ones this week, with estimated $323M overseas BO. Also, due to Elemental's release in Japan and very good WOM there than TLM received, Elemental's overseas numbers also expected to have same numbers or surpass TLM's overseas numbers soon (expected $269M-$270M), assuming that Elemental had $270M-$290M overseas BO incl Japan.

‘Oppenheimer’ Soaring Past $700M Global Box Office Today, Will Overtake Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ On Sunday

Christopher Nolan and Universal’s Oppenheimer is on its way to yet another milestone, poised to cross $700M globally through today.

deadline.com

It should be noted that Oppenheimer is not being released in Japan, an otherwise huge overseas movie market, for obvious reasons.

But as @MisterPenguin told us a week or so ago, someone forgot to tell the summer intern at Warner Brothers' Communications Dept. that, as that precious young thing Tweeted a Barbenheimer meme out to the world, including Japan, with an atomic bomb mushroom cloud in the background that was seen in very bad taste. Oops.

That's what happens when Gen Z was never taught what WWII was, or why it was even a thing.

 

[TP2000]

Are they re-releasing the movie as a sing-a-long in the theaters? I wonder if Disney will force a way for it to hit $300 million domestic because $297-$298 million is certainly an odd look.

Yes, even the very modest domestic box office Mermaid got leaves them in an awkward position. $297 Million total.

Yesterday, Sunday the 6th, Mermaid only pulled in $15,000 domestically in the 90 theaters left in the USA still playing it for a few bucks per seat.

Little Mermaid is going to end at $297 Million domestically, and $267 Million for the entire rest of the planet.

The Numbers - Daily Box Office Chart for Friday August 29, 2025

Daily Domestic Box Office Chart for Friday August 29, 2025

www.the-numbers.com

 

[celluloid]

Yes, even the very modest domestic box office Mermaid got leaves them in an awkward position. $297 Million total.

Yesterday, Sunday the 6th, Mermaid only pulled in $15,000 domestically in the 90 theaters left in the USA still playing it for a few bucks per seat.

Little Mermaid is going to end at $297 Million domestically, and $267 Million for the entire rest of the planet.

The Numbers - Daily Box Office Chart for Friday August 29, 2025

Daily Domestic Box Office Chart for Friday August 29, 2025

www.the-numbers.com

Who would have thought a Rated R movie that had less than half the budget, that won't even play in Japan would surpass its worldwide number with ease.

 

[DCBaker]

The Little Mermaid arrives on Disney+ September 6, 2023.

 

[Chi84]

Who would have thought a Rated R movie that had less than half the budget, that won't even play in Japan would surpass its worldwide number with ease.

I think there's another thread for discussing box office performance. If you've seen The Little Mermaid I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Apologies if you've already posted them.

 

[Disney Analyst]

The Little Mermaid arrives on Disney+ September 6, 2023.

View attachment 735972

Back to a normal release schedule. Long theatrical window before streaming release.

I expect a pretty big boost for this film (socially) once it releases for streaming.

 

[LSLS]

Back to a normal release schedule. Long theatrical window before streaming release.

I expect a pretty big boost for this film (socially) once it releases for streaming.

Sort of. Previously, wasn't it like almost a year before it hit streaming? I thought it was theaters for like 90 days, then like 3-6 months of buy it only, then on to streaming services. This is still only like what, 3.5 months or so.

 

[Phroobar]

The Little Mermaid arrives on Disney+ September 6, 2023.

View attachment 735972

Anyone want to have a viewing party? We could do our version of Rifftrax during it.

 

[celluloid]

Avatar is one of the biggest outliers of this ever. It's why so many people thought an Avatar land was a bad idea. It left almost zero pop culture footprint. A lot of people laugh at the idea of stuff like Halloween costumes. But it is a decent gauge of how something is trending. Like you said, it's not the end all be all, but it does give some good insight in my opinion.

And even if you don't look for Halloween costumes.

Toys. Kids toys for this did not sell the way Marvel, Star Wars or even Ghostbusters did.

Even at the park food and merch is kind of there, but not a must have or kids begging for items.

It rarely even feels like THE REASON people go to Animal Kingdom anymore. As happy as they are to ride Flight of Passage, its already lost the anchor feeling that Star Wars and Potter have.

The budget is going to go up, and the diminished returns will continue until it is just another tent pole, not the magnificent that they want. I think the stench of 2 honestly lingers with a lot of people.