EXCLUSIVE, late Thursday afternoon: Sources tell us that Disney’s Rob Marshall directed it The little mermaid sing some high notes tonight $10M+ in previews. Should that amount surpass $10.8 million, it will represent the sixth-highest preview performance among PG- and G-rated titles in film history. Tracking tied the Halle-Bailey film to a $120 million 4-day launch over Memorial Day.
Keep in mind preview money is made up of Wednesday fan screenings at 6pm in 500 premium cinemas and early morning shows which started at 3pm today.
Even more impressively, Little Mermaid’s preview character outperforms Disney’s live-action adaptation of Memorial Day weekend 2019’s Aladdin animated film; This Will Smith picture earns $7 million before grossing $31.3 million on its first Friday for a 4-day $116.8 million contest. “Little Mermaid” also easily beats the $2.3 million previews (starting at 8 p.m.) of 2015’s “Cinderella,” which grossed $23 million on day one and 67 at the start. had $8 million. However, The Little Mermaid swims slower than Disney’s 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast, which grossed $16.3 million, for a Friday of $63.7 million and an opening price of 174, $7 million.
Women’s movies, such as “Twilight,” often get a bad rap for being put in the foreground. But once a mass-appealing Disney princess film really picks up steam right from the start, it just won’t let go. Beauty and the Beast was down only about -2% between Thursday/Friday previews and Saturday’s trading. Frozen 2 was up 19% over the same period, while Princess Jasmine’s Aladdin was down just -4% between Thursday night/Friday and Saturday.
While Little Mermaid’s ratings dropped to 68%, Rotten Tomatoes viewers are very satisfied at 95%.
We’re just getting started here.