“The Little Mermaid” A Certified Bomb

I blame her freaky eyes!

Why would any adult care?

Poor Halle Bailey, she'll never be Halle Berry.

[quote]Why would any adult care?

Because anytime Disney fails, an angel gets its wings!

Same side = same wife

Shareholders, r2. Duh.

They don't.

“Snow White” next year is facing the same fate.

That damn Woke Disney.

Opie is just another anti-woke troublemaker, eagerly doing Ron DeSatan's bidding all the while hoping to suck Ron's puny, smelly uncut cock.

[QUOTE] Poor Halle Bailey, she'll never be Halle Berry.

😂 Everytime I read about this movie, I see “Halle Berry.” For a split second I’m like “They got her old ass playing the Little Mermaid?” Then I come to my senses.

Are you implying that because the kids are of different race, people are staying away? Btw, you’re so wrong headed about the “poor” box office. A teensy bit of a Google search would have told you that.

BOX OFFICE: Disney's #TheLittleMermaid scores $38M in its first day & is on pace for $120M+ over the 4-day weekend. If it tops $126.9M, it will be 3rd highest Memorial Day weekend ever.

[quote]“Snow White” next year is facing the same fate.

Will snow white be black, too?

What’s interesting is the color blind “Cinderella” back in 1998 with Whitney Houston and Brandy seemed like it had a better reception than today’s color blind casting. Have people gone backwards or were the people who were against it not have a platform as they do today?

She'll definitely need to do something about those eyes if she wants a career in Hollywood.

I can sort of get why people might get miffed that Anne Boleyn was portrayed by a black actress, but Mermaids aren't real. They are fictional. They can be any race. People are idiots.

Too soon.

r15 There's literally nothing that can be done regarding the eyes, we don't have skull-narrowing surgeries just yet.

You'll just have to get used to the fact that certain people and certain ethnicities have eyes that are wider apart, that's all.

Well, can't she wear sunglasses, all the time?

It's because she's black, isn't it, right?

What the fuck do you assholes think is wrong with her eyes?

Why does it need $750 million to break even? Is there a citation for this figure?

Whatever do you mean, R15?

R22, the OP made it up, just as it made up the “certified bomb” part. The drawback of sites like DL is that people can lie through their teeth and post whatever garbage they want to.

It will be a hit and definitely recoup its money. It will play in theaters for weeks, at least through July 4th and little kids will see it over and over. It will have a slow, successful build like "The Greatest Showman."

"The drawback of sites like DL is that people can lie through their teeth and post whatever garbage they want to."

If it's good enough for DJT and the Republican Party, it's good enough for me.

I'd wager that these stalwart Disney IP projects have a far longer and more robust lifespan after their original theatrical releases than most other films. They are all part of the huge Disney canon of approved, known, and loved properties which are then kept relevant through the enormous merchandising and theme park exposure for decades to come.

Believe it or not, the original animated film of "The Little Mermaid "was released thirty-four years ago!

Why can't they just leave everything alone? How about they try and put out movies, shows, music that are original and stop rebooting everything under the sun and making it all lame or cheesy.

R28, I have to agree with you. The reason is that huge corporations are risk averse, and they tell themselves that something they know was a hit will be a hit again. Especially if they’re sinking a lot of money in it.

Theaters take a cut of the profits. They spent $200 million on promotion. They just pumped in another $80 million. The film won’t even break even.

[quote] Btw, you’re so wrong headed about the “poor” box office.

No, I’m not. You don’t understand how the box office works nor budgets. The film is a massive bomb. Even you understood how numbers work you would see that Disney is trying to spin this. I guarantee you that in two weeks they’ll start pushing the “no one saw it because of racism” narrative. Iger’s head is going to be on a platter with investors.

It’s the fifth highest Memorial Day opening ever.

Don’t listen to the asshole racists on here.

It is a flop as an investment. And for a public company like Disney, this is an investment that will be measured by return-on-investment.

This is not about COVID depressing box office returns. "Mario" has made over $560 million in the US.

This is about a director who took a classic 82 minute movie and shoved 52 minutes down its throat, hoping to create foie gras but ending up with an overcooked goose.

It's too bad for the lead; she seems really nice and has a killer voice.

Iger's head will never be on a platter. The board BEGGED him to return. He is untouchable -- and had little to do with "The Little Mermaid." "Little Mermaid" is not a Marvel movie, it is not made for 18 -35 year old men who still live with their parents -- or 57 year old white Dataloungers who still live at home with mother so they can "take care" of her.

It is a kid's movie musical and will not have a simple linear progression. It has merchandising and other avenues of revenue.

The budget is reported to be $250m, half of a movie’s gross goes to the cinemas themselves, so that would put the break even figure at 500m for the production alone.. let alone the advertising costs.

R34 missed the part of tanking Star Wars franchise, Disney+ not bringing in revenue, and the almost billion dollars that they spent on the upcoming Indiana Jones flop.

The truth is, there is no reason to remake these films. The animated versions are iconic.

This fake outrage is a diversion from that orange idiot is going to jail. Maga is pissed and so they get to dump on a fictional character.

Poor little maga heads are going to explode when their precious orange leader gets justice. Lol

So let's just say that OP is correct and the film is a bomb. What prize do you win OP? Do you take out an ad in Variety proclaiming that going forward all mermaids should be white? What's the endgame? What have you accomplished here? Help us understand. Bring us into the light.

Exactly r38. OP is a closet MAGA.

Good lord r33, money made is not just from the box office. By the time they’re done selling mermaids to little girls (they can even buy one that looks like them) this movie will make tons of money. Not to mention the box office results so far are on par with other blockbusters. Don’t know what you’re trying to pull here but your overt racism is pathetic. And your knowledge of movies is worse.

DL: The place where if you don't like a movie starring an unknown black actress, you are a racist.

Also r33 you quote Mario as having made $560 million. It’s been out for nearly two months!

OP is stabbing his mussy with his MAGA cross in great ecstasy!

Bullshit r41. I’m an oldster who won’t watch this movie because I have no interest. OP has claimed this movie bombed because it was too woke. It’s OP that turned this post into a racist post.

Correct r42. And it proves there is no COVID issue for people to see a kids movie, right?

Timeout is over and Datalounge is awash with impoverished trolls and village idiots.

The Brandy/Whitney version of Cinderella had an Asian prince with a Black mother and White father so the skin color isn't that big a deal or even a new concept. That said, I'm not into the current crop of Disney live action stuff so I'll sit this out.

Unnecessary movie.

To quote one of the critics at Rotten Tomatoes:

[quote]Suffers from the murky, underlit look common in Disney tentpoles. In underwater sequences the dimness ostensibly approximates realism, but the real function is to camouflage CGI quality issues. Too much fails at a basic level: It’s not worth looking at.

[quote] DL: The place where if you don't like a movie starring an unknown black actress, you are a racist.

DL: the place where you must dislike and malign a movie just because it stars a female actor who is Black.

Halle is extremely pretty and looks like a Disney princess. Emma Watson did not look like a Disney princess at all as Belle. Also similarly Mena Massoud was not hot enough to play Aladdin. Obviously being cartoons they aren't necessarily look the same in live action but the vibe is important and Halle has that factor.

[quote]DL: the place where you must dislike and malign a movie just because it stars a female actor who is Black.

Or maybe the movie is just bad.

And Brandy was cute as Cinderella and nobody complained about that. Off topic but a young Whitney would have been perfect if these type of movies were a thing back in the 1980s. She had a princessy beauty when young.

Good! They need to stop these crappy live action remakes.

[quote] OP has claimed this movie bombed because it was too woke.

Learn how to read, Bozo.

Sorry r55 OP claimed the movie bombed because OP is a racist. Better?

For days, OP's hard big man clit has been quivering about this movie's desired failure.

Bomb?

Op is lying. But furthermore he is a sick sick motherfucker. All he does is create posts all day about how some black woman in Hollywood or music is failing. It’s very sick. It needs to get laid. It needs to know they will accept it.

It didn't bomb at all 😂. The racists need a pat on the back, they gave this movie free promo since it was announced back in 2020. All the backlash caused people to go out and see it and many actually liked it. Thank you haters for promoting this movie for free!

[quote]It didn't bomb at all 😂. The racists need a pat on the back, they gave this movie free promo since it was announced back in 2020. All the backlash caused people to go out and see it and many actually liked it. Thank you haters for promoting this movie for free!

To be honest, looking at your posting history, you seem to be a member of the Beyonce cult, and really love Janelle Monae.

Why would it need $750 million to break even when it cost $200 million to make?

[quote] Or maybe the movie is just bad.

It wouldn't even matter. This is DL -- where Black female star = bad movie.

Bad movie = Bad movie

Cute Mena got into some hot water over comments he made. He needs to do gay porn, IMO.

[quote] Why would it need $750 million to break even when it cost $200 million to make?

Half of revenue goes to theaters, an additional $300 million was spent on promo.

[quote] It didn't bomb at all

Yeah, it did.

It's crazy when inflation is occuring that people expect theatre box offices to be as if there wasn't an insane spike in the cost of living. Just saying...

Avan Jogia should have been Aladdin. He's much hotter. And people campaigned for him too.

A billion dollar budget? Sounds like money-laundering. They probably paid some Asian students to create it on their laptops.

Yeah, it's fairly obvious that the OP is a MAGAT who hates Disney for standing up to Rhonda and standing against MAGAT fascism and homophobia in general. She posts rancid racist shit on the Datalounge because she thinks it's "cleverly disguised" and she has nothing better to do now that she can no longer find work as a hotel maid.

[quote]What’s interesting is the color blind “Cinderella” back in 1998 with Whitney Houston and Brandy seemed like it had a better reception than today’s color blind casting. Have people gone backwards or were the people who were against it not have a platform as they do today?

That was R&H's Cinderella. The lead character in that has no fixed appearance, unlike the characters in Disney's animated features, who have a very "fixed in stone forever" appearance.

I did not want to see this movie or like it, but I kept reading from my friend's online about how much they too didn't want to see it but ended up liking it. I went last night and saw it on Imax. It was probably the best live action movie Disney has made to date. Her eyes didn't annoy me, it was the mole above her eye that I hated. She should get it removed. But boy can she act. Half of the movie she doesn't talk and she was really expressive with those eyes. My only other critique was Ursula's makeup. It needed to be a lot better. Any baby drag queen could do their makeup better. They did Melissa McCarthy dirty IMO. Overall it was a fun night at the movies. I'm glad I saw it and kept an open mind.

I would prefer if they cast the entire movie with any one race rather than with distracting, annoying color blind casting.

Give it a rest, r71.

And the whole she thing, old, too.

I won't watch it, but it's because I don't care for remakes of movies that are in the "What if in an alternate universe..." genre like this one. Disney created a world that the original Ariel lived in, and we don't need alternate versions of it.

Gay men who call other gay men "she" are trash.

^she said, petulantly

^^^^^^^

The Little Mermaid has always been my favorite of the Disney revival era movies. I love the music and the underwater sequences. I didn’t expect to like the live action version but it’s really good. Not quite as magical visually but still very impressive. The leads are excellent and I liked the added songs. I was a little surprised they cut Les Poissons but the movie is already too long and that song doesn’t advance the story so it’s not really missed.

Length is definitely one of my nitpicks. The original is a breezy 90 minutes and this version is over 2 hours. There’s not any singing until a good 20 minutes into the movie. They definitely could have condensed some sequences.

I love Melissa McCarthy but I felt like her Ursula was a bit constrained. I imagine she was limited in what she could do physically due to CGI restraints but I was expecting more somehow. I also didn’t like the changes made to Poor Unfortunate Souls. I think they just cut some lyrics rather than rewrite them but it felt too short and didn’t build like the original.

My friend said it was his favorite of the live action remakes and I’d agree. For the most part I’ve been indifferent to them - they’re fine but unnecessary. But I’d watch this one again to appreciate the new music and great performances. Plus I fan girled at the Jodi Benson cameo

R76, are you that dumb to know that those movies are not for you. You are not the target audience so no one cares what you do or say.

[quote]You are not the target audience

Anyone who is not 7 is not the target audience.

OP = More political propaganda from the DL's dullard former hotel maid/current disability recipient.

I call her "she" because Dumbvida is a woman, a straight woman. The fact that she hasn't been fucked in decades doesn't change the fact that she identifies as a woman. A fat, ugly woman.

Presumably she's the Datalounger who just started Ozempic but I haven't read that thread yet.

[quote]Avan Jogia should have been Aladdin.

Eva Longoria as Aladdin? I'm not sure.

[quote]The makeup artist for the film is now under fire for not being queer.

How very dare they hire a non-queer makeup artist!!!

It's a hit. OP is just a racist right-winger looking for a reason to attack Disney

R74, it's about fictional mermaids who don't really exist. Who cares what race they are?

Racist trolling

Poor girl with the far apart eyes, it was supposed to be her big Hollywood start.

Okhgy

[quote] it's about fictional mermaids who don't really exist. Who cares what race they are?

The people at Disney making these decisions.

If woke Disney financial schadenfreude is wrong, I don't wanna be right

Apparently, it's a hit in North America, but a flop in 51 other markets around the world (including major territories such as France, the U.K., Mexico, Australia, Brazil and South Korea).

These live action remakes are lazy cash grabs that rely on nostalgia. If studios want to rely on nostalgia should at least create a new story line. Top Gun 2 was so successful because it had a fresh (albeit uncomplicated) plot and introduced new characters. Cruise might be a crazy clam, but he gave people their money's worth. Shitty CGI and uncanny valley animals are not entertainment.

Re those saying that comments about the film failing are racist. Maybe some are crowing due to racism. Doesn't change the fact that the film is failing. Also doesn't change the fact that people of color deserve better fare. Hope this film doesn't derail the Haile, she's amazing. Maybe she can work with Glover like her sister. He is someone the studios should support.

R74 Own you narrow mind. Own that shit. Look at the diverse utopia. Why can’t you see it. I can see it. The Jews can see. Why can’t you?

^ Que?

Did the mermaid flop?

I don't care about the color-blind casting. I don't think young women need movies about making sacrifices for their prince in the name of love. It's just garbage and cynical exploitation.

[quote]hat the fuck do you assholes think is wrong with her eyes?

Same daddy

100!

Let's get real here, the world is anti-black no matter how much you all want to deny it and that says little about this film and how "wrong" Disney is and more about the fact that other races hold antagonistic views toward darker skinned people and especially African descent. Even though so far this film has gotten excellent reviews from critics and audiences and considered the best live-action adaptation since Cinderella (and a lesser degree Alice in Wonderland) and has done extremely well in The US so far. It's failure to do well overseas has nothing to do with it's content but the fact that colorism and anti-blackness is far more pervasive outside of The US. In Asia, women are expected to stay outside of the sun and even bleach their skin. It's easier for a movie like Black Panther to do better because it's lead is a man and dark skin is less of a liability. But in the case of this film where it's a beautiful black girl in the lead and most Westerners can recognize her beauty. Other cultures simply are not receptive of black beauty.

If this movie was absolute garbage yet had a pretty white girl in the lead, it would not have flopped overseas. That is just the truth. Now the racists on here are using its lack of success in Asia to indicate that it's such a horrific crime to have diversity in a film. Yet ignore that America is not and was never a homogeneous society like Asian societies are, white audiences enjoy seeing black talent and historically have (blackface only existed as a form of enjoying black people, albeit stereotypical, in a horribly segregated society). It did phenomenal in The US market because both white and black Americans enjoy black people's talent and appreciate them. That's why it's ridiculous to me, why Hollywood is going backwards pandering to ultra-conservative, xenophobic and racist countries like China, Saudi Arabia, India, etc.

Who cares about a bullshit kids' film?

R102 Disney investors - that's who cares and there are thousands of them.

R102 Clearly racist internet trolls who would not shut up about it since it was announced back in 2020. Acting like it was such a horrific crime that Disney cast a black girl as Ariel. Making up bullshit like its "redhead erasure" (despite ignoring all the white bottle redhead actors who are chosen over real redheads for decades) or Disney is "brainwashing kids with wokeness." It was grown ass white or white-worshipping Asian incels whining like big babies even going as far as making Deepfake AIs to replaced Halle with a white redheaded girl. It was absolutely pathetic. And why the fuck should Disney care what that demographic thinks? They make these movies for young kids not grown ass adults. The infantilization of adults is quite an eye to see.

The original animated film is probably my favorite Disney movie. I was a 7-year-old gay boy when it was released, so how could it not be?

I’m also a fan of Halle Bailey and her sister.

This movie, however, just looks like a murky CGI mess. Like appallingly awful. AND 2.5 hours???

Nah, I’m good.

News flash! People don't want to go to theatres any more. Those days are long gone.

R73 thanks for admitting it. I went today, was embarrassed to admit it, after a friend texted me and told me I HAD to see it. Halle Bailey's voice is incredible. The casting was incredible. I was really impressed with Melissa McCarthy. I like her anyway but she just went so much further than I thought she could. (the plot was the plot- whatever). The music and the visual effects were great too. The theatre was packed with many loud children who clearly loved it. The theatre applauded at the end (I didn't, that's not something I would do). It was definitely good.

I think we all agree that OP is a certified bomb.

Looks pretty good to me.............

may not even break even

I think the Chinese market has shrunk for all US films. However if the film had an Asian lead it probably would have done better, There is lots of racism in Asian about skin color and beauty. Dark skin is not a positive.

My sister watched my 3 y/o and I took her 3 older kids to see it. I liked it, surprisingly. I love diversity but hate woke bs. None of the production choices bothered me or distracted from the retelling IMO. It was a little too long but not bad. Never heard of Halle Bally but bitch can sing and act. Pretty girl, in the film.

I still love the original animated version.

[quote] There is lots of racism in Asian about skin color and beauty. Dark skin is not a positive.

There's a lot of racism in the US about skin color and beauty. Non-white skin is not a positive.

There's a lot of racism on DL about skin color and beauty. Non-white skin is not a positive.

racism is valid?

[quote] The live-action remake of “Dumbo” made more money.

I didn't even know this was a thing,.

Gotta love the racists all pressed about MERMAID GENETICS. They're confused that two half-fish people have multiracial broods but have no problem imagining HALF FISH PEOPLE WHO LIVE, BUILD COMPLEX SOCIETIES, TALK AND WEAR CLOTHES UNDERWATER.

The stupidity is just too, too much.

If you watch Chinese, Korean and Japanese TV and films you'd see they favor extremely pale actresses who undergo a ton of plastic surgery (it's normalized there) to increase their eye size. Most Asians aren't naturally pale (they tan very easily and can become brown). But they associate light skin with wealth. The men can keep their hooded eyes and have a slight tan but the beauty standards for women are always stricter. Add the Eurocentric influence which is why there are even Eurasian and white actors, singers and models all throughout Asia. It's changing due to globalization and exposure to different types of beauty. You're seeing black or Blasian models and celebs in Asia nowadays but majority still favor very pale skin. Halle is lighter skinned but still too "dark." It's also ironic because Halle's facial features look vaguely East Asian (wide set eyes with an upturn, button nose and round doll like head).

It's now at $209 million. So it's getting close to its budget of $250 million.

OP and it’s further comments is a sad bitter faggot. We progressive, well adjusted gays are getting married and getting fucked. He’s betting on a Disney blockbuster to flop. OP good day to you.

R16, The Little Mermaid is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and published in 1837. It is part of Danish mythology and the mermaid in his book was white. Santa Claus is also fictional but he is always portrayed as a fat white man because that's how he was created.

R120 Again who gives a fuck? It's all imaginary. The Disney animated film wasn't even in Denmark anyway. Calypso music and a Trinidadian crab off the coast of Denmark? Eric's Mediterranean looking castle?

I've seen plenty of Santa Clauses at events played by black fat guys. Nobody cared. Plenty of black Christmas stories too.

Stop the fake outrage over a children's story. It's tired.

R118, it needs to make at least $390M to break even bc of marketing - maybe more

[quote] 1837. It is part of Danish mythology and the mermaid in his book was white.

Umm 1837 is the modern era and it was a widely published story for a Western audience. It was mainstream. So how the fuck is it mythology? It's not even folklore like Santa originated as. It was a commercial story published for children. Mermaids exist in various cultures.

This movie is on track to become one of the biggest films of the year and is a huge success. Come Holiday/Christmas season will also earn Disney + millions of new subscribers. Children and well adjusted adults don’t see race. I love the smell of success.

R18, the $250M production budget doesn’t include the nearly $200M spent on worldwide marketing.

Also, Disney only gets a little more than 50% back from the theaters, and even less from international theaters.

I don’t think this is a disaster, but it’s certainly not good. Not for such a precious piece of Disney IP.

R121, there would be outrage if it was an African story written by a black man about a black mermaid now played by a white actress. There would be riots.

R126 You are sick. Sad.

You can be assured that when someone like OP or R126 comes here to "discuss" something, it will be a lecture by them about the dangers of wokeism, gay erasure, anti-trans or some other bullshit, all the while extolling the virtues of white supremacy, neo-fascism and the Republican brand of faux patriotism.

R128, Black Panther was fictional too. I think it should be remade with an all white cast, don't you? Since it's fictional...

R129 The Little Mermaid’s cast is not all white. Long term Covid? First I’m hearing of facial blindness or selective memory lost.

[quote] It's now at $209 million. So it's getting close to its budget of $250 million.

No, it’s not. 50% goes to the theaters. Disney is now admitting it’s a bomb. It needed $700-750 to break even. They just revealed that they spent $180 million on promotion and these numbers are coming from Disney, so they’re no doubt higher.

The film is projected to drop 61% this week.

R130, I think you meant to write "all black". Yes I hear long term covid can cause mental retardation like in your case.

R129, it already is—in just about every frigging Marvel or whatever movie.

R132 You feeble minded cunt. Stay mad.

#1 for this week's US box office is a bomb? Okay, Gomer.

Now go back to your bootleg copy of "Song of the South" and let the adults talk.

I can't believe really sane people can go on and on and on about the skin color of fucking cartoon and comic book characters. It is any wonder mega-assholes like Donald Trump and Rhonda Santis are considered serious presidential material?

Jesus fucking Christ, get a God damned life already.

R136, Reverend Wright was right perhaps. U S of KKKKKK?

R133, I'm specifically talking about Black Panther. If the race of fictional characters don't matter as some of you believe, then it doesn't matter if it's a story about black people. Then black characters in Black Panther could be replaced by white characters. Right?

Again, R138. Why do you insist on making a BFD about the color of the skin of comic book and cartoon characters? What is your fucking damage? Why is this such a big sticking point in your dull, dismal life?

And I would say that to a black person if they took offense if Black Panther suddenly morphed into White Panther as well.

It's fantasy and escapism, not "War and Peace" or "Doctor Zhivago."

I was going to respond to r138, but r139 said it exactly right.

R139 It’s just a bitter angry old man. We should stop arguing with it. It no longer has humanity in my book. It’s a fkin it.

Yeah unfortunately its bombing.

[quote]#1 for this week's US box office is a bomb? Okay, Gomer.

Nevertheless...

I don't have a dog in this race, but if a movie does not recoup its production/promotion budget AND turn a profit, it IS a bomb. Simple as that.

From the looks of it, this will not do either.

R143 Right, it will not bomb. You are correct my friend. It is on track to break even this weekend.

Something controversial like this movie will draw a lot of curious one-time viewers. We’ll see if it beats the expectation that it won’t have many repeat viewers. Mena Massoud said Aladdin grossed over a billion dollars because of the repeat moviegoers. Little Mermaid is expected to gross $560 million worldwide.

America gets a lot of frack, but Americans seem to be much more open to casting someone based on their race in order to create a diversity movie.

Frack = flack

Americans have not returned back to theaters as normal in this post Covid world. Also this year is on track to be the deadliest in mass shootings. You Klannies can try to spend this all you want, the film is a success.

Aladdin came out in 2019.

[quote]the film is a success.

Even though evidence points to the contrary?

Americans are going to see the movie. It’s overseas viewers who are not. You are going to have to create a new narrative to try to explain away the problem, r147.

R148 What evidence. All the evidence points to the contrary of what you are saying.

Own your resentment Klannies. Audience reviews are also great. The film will have legs, no pun intended, throughout the early summer.

Can we cut to the chase here?

The real reason the trolls want this seemingly innocuous movie to fail so badly is because it's yet another example of "wokeism" by Disney by replacing a white mermaid with a black mermaid (as if either one exists in the real world).

The moving failing is so important to them is that it shows Americans are sick of having "wokeism" shoved down their throats, just like Bud Light did.

But If you dig deep enough into the cockroach's nest, I'm sure Rhonda DeSantis or once of his bootlickers have their greasy paw prints all over this bullshit.

I can't believe all the arguing over a kids' movie. Would this be happening if the lead actress weren't black? Highly doubtful.

It seems to me that the US is going backwards rather than forward in many ways, especially those related to race.

It's a kids' movie... just a kids' movie.

Hollywood has some crazy high expectations and that's why the industry is dead. We are in a recession plus COVID. What can they expect? People stream nowadays. It doesn't matter how much they promote. We are not going back to the olden days. That said the film made a shit ton of money and people on here are still acting like nobody saw it.

[quote] I can't believe all the arguing over a kids' movie. Would this be happening if the lead actress weren't black? Highly doubtful.

That’s right, the only movies that ever been discussed on DL have been ones with a black lead actress. There would not ever be a debate about any movie with a lead actress who is not black.

R152 Nailed it perfectly. Drops mic. Thread closed. Thanks r152.

R154, we’re in neither a recession nor Covid.

R157 Inflation is horrific right now. And old people and immunocompromised people still self-isolate. And I hate to burst your bubble but many people got used to streaming and staying inside. People are budgeting and saving money because gas, food and rent are getting out of control. They keep raising prices to prevent a Recession but it's going to happen.

R155, you and every other troll on this thread don't want to discuss the artistic merits of this film or even if its good or bad.

The only thing you want to discuss movie is the movie failing terribly because the lead is a black actress and how "woke" the movie is and how the movie going public is "punishing" Disney for its wokeism.

Quit doing your Eddie Haskell impression and claiming you're not trolling or race baiting. Nobody is falling for it.

R158 I’m not arguing with your point about the movie business, I simply pointed out that there isn’t no recession right now—you say yourself they keep raising prices to prevent one. And using the accepted criteria for declaring a recession, we just aren’t in one.

Oops meant to say there is no recession at r160.

Good lord why is this movie getting so much hate? It’s a kid’s movie.

[quote] That’s right, the only movies that ever been discussed on DL have been ones with a black lead actress. There would not ever be a debate about any movie with a lead actress who is not black.

How many of those movies that are discussed on DL are aimed at 8-year-old girls?

Apart from the racial thing, R162, it's a cynical cash-grab after years and years of Disney doing the same thing to their classic animated movies, exploiting adults' nostalgia for the films they watched over and over again on VHS back in the nineties. Most of them made a ton of money, but no one really likes them all that much or thinks about them at all after they leave theaters.

The backlash was inevitable, just like it was for Marvel and Star Wars. You can only exploit people's childhood nostalgia and an audience's goodwill for so long; eventually you have to offer something more than that, and these movies almost never do.

[quote] Americans have not returned back to theaters as normal in this post Covid world.

Not true, but nice try.

It needs $750 million to break even. It ain’t happening.

I’m not into children films but it shows how the world has not changed much. A woke Little Mermaid 🧜‍♀️ is not a big attraction beyond the USA.

It's a PG family movie, intended for all audiences.

This is quite an interesting article about the film’s success or otherwise.

r169, that blog post is just pulling from an actual article posted on Deadline, which the link to is at r145.

What's next? A transgender Dumbo?

No one knows what it needs to break even. I love how you people always make these colossal numbers up. Disney did not spend almost $1 billion on one fucking movie. Please stop already.

R40 OP is a moron who lives with his mother. Literally. Not joking. A grown man. Living off his mom.

Not to mention he doesn’t realize that the merchandise sold for the movie alone will recoup costs. Merchandising is a huge part of these types of movies.

Disney spent $80 million on the advertising campaign for this. Why? Because a movie like this carries itself. The title is known worldwide. They didn’t need to spend $200 million on advertisements because the name is an advertisement in itself. Add on the outrage from racists and that was free advertising

R66 that’s a lie though. They spent $80 million on promo. Not $300 million.

R94 Top Gun 2 was a sequel to an 80s blockbuster…

R115 it came out in 2019. But OP lied once again. Dumbo made …

DOMESTIC (32.5%) - $114,766,307

INTERNATIONAL (67.5%) -$238,518,314

WORLDWIDE - $353,284,621

Dumbo made $353.2 million worldwide in its entire run. The Little Mermaid made over $200 million in less than a week, and already surpassed Dumbo’s domestic gross.

He lies so much as if the internet isn’t a thing and we can’t look it up. Meanwhile he’s posting ON THE INTERNET. That’s how fucking stupid he is.

R120 but the Disney movie isn’t based off the original story. The Little Mermaid has been adapted and changed numerous times over the last 100+ years.

R125 AGAIN, They spent $80 million on marketing only. You said $350 million then $300 million and then $250 million and then $200 million. You can’t even stick to a number

R165 that movie was the exception. I love how you losers bring up the same 3 or 4 movies to make it seem like movies are doing great. Almost all movies flop now. Movies stay in theaters for less than 30 days on average now. Theaters are dying.

Just because a particular film does well doesn’t mean otherwise.

“ We’ve learned that The Little Mermaid had the biggest global promotional partner campaign for a Disney branded live-action title (not Lucasfilm or Marvel Cinematic Universe), estimated at $80M in value.”

Again, Disney doesn’t spend a lot on the marketing for the live action remakes because the titles of their classic cartoons they’re remaking carry themselves.

So this fish girl is bleck?

The new Spider-Man movie is really diverse and is gonna blow the Mermaid out of the water.

Maybe Mermaid just sucks. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Someone adding to the list of the many problems this movie has.

Why the fuck is the bird talking under water?!

[quote] AGAIN, They spent $80 million on marketing only.

Wrong.

“ The film has a reported $250M budget cost and $140M global marketing spend.”

The $80 million was spent the week off as a last ditch effort to save the movie.

Deadline:

“Anything in the low $400M global threshold and this fish is apt to be sinking to a loss of around $20M.”

[quote]AGAIN, They spent $80 million on marketing only. Wrong.

“The film has a reported $250M budget cost and $140M global marketing spend.”

The $80 million was spent the week of as a last ditch effort to save the movie.

Deadline:

“Anything in the low $400M global threshold and this fish is apt to be sinking to a loss of around $20M.”

R186 lmao at your non certified website lmaooooooooo

R187 if Deadline stated this please link the deadline article

That Deadline article linked by R184 demonstrates how absurd some of these "commentators " really.

Darling, it's only a movie.

[quote] The latest example of Disney’s unfolding financial disaster is their latest major release: The Little Mermaid.

[quote]While domestic box office for the film has been solid, if unspectacular, international grosses have been poor.

[quote]As one industry exec told Deadline Hollywood, the results have been “a disappointment.”

Here, Jabba.

R191 will you ever post from official sites???

The deadline link was already posted above at r145. But getting the “official” link won’t save this movie.

The movie needs around $400 million to break even…

Not $750 million

I was thinking of going to see it again tonight but it’s sold out at my local theater. The 9pm showing only has 2 handicap seats left.

[quote] Not $750 million

It does when you factor in the numbers that aren’t coming from Disney’s press department trying to do damage control.

R198 again. No. Enough with the psycho behavior.

200! It would’ve been better with SHELLEY HACK!

You can keep up with TLM's boxoffice here.

Global so far is over $217 million. Still short of the $400 million that Deadline estimated it needs to make to break even.

This weekend will be telling in terms of TLM's ability to not have a huge drop off in its second weekend (the second weekend dropoff happens to almost all movies, of course).

r197: "I was thinking of going to see it again tonight but it’s sold out at my local theater. The 9pm showing only has 2 handicap seats left."

Come to Philly. None of the TLM showings are sold out or close to sold out.

R201 $217 million in 7 fucking days. You’re speaking like it’s been out for weeks. It JUST CAME OUT 1 WEEK AGO. Are you ok????

R202 psycho, clicking on those theaters almost all of them are at 50% capacity already some. More tickets will sell as the day goes on…

Already sold*

R 203 - "$217 million in 7 fucking days. You’re speaking like it’s been out for weeks. It JUST CAME OUT 1 WEEK AGO. Are you ok????"

I wrote that it was "in its second weekend". But how can I expect you to find literal text in a post when you can't even find your own ass in the dark.

I almost never call people racist, because it tends to shut down conversations. But if you are that invested in a children's movie tanking because they cast a black girl to play a live action mythical cartoon character, then you might be racist or at the very least have some issues around race that need working out.

R207 that loser does. He’s low class and uneducated and lives with his mother still. And no, I’m not joking.

Spiderman is a fucking cartoon. It's going to really bomb.

[quote] The 9pm showing only has 2 handicap seats left.

It’s more challenging for a handicapped person to go to see a movie, so it’s understandable that they would rather use their opportunity to go see a good movie instead.

R120, Santa Claus is not always depicted as white, you dumb racist troll! You probably think Jesus looked like Colby Keller.

I like the folks in this thread who are super invested in the movie being considered successful. They really care. A lot.

It’s not that anyone cares. It’s that your nonsensical bullshit and very clear agenda are wrong. And you should probably get a job.

You care, r213. And I can prove it: someone who really doesn't care wouldn't post about it. But here you are, posting like 71 comments in this thread. You care.

A lot.

R214 another made up number from you. What a shock lmao

made you post

R212, it’s weird. Ruthless criticism of a movie on DL is understandable, because that’s normal. However, unless someone is a Disney stockholder or work in their film area, it doesn’t make much sense for people to be so upset about the criticism. They have no stake in it.

R217 what’s weird is all the posts from you on another account making up numbers. When the thread dies you are the one to comment and bring it back. Mental illness is real but you aren’t mentally ill. You know exactly what you’re doing. What you should be doing is going to get a job.

There is a huge difference between film criticism and what's going on here and you all know it. You guys can cloak it in film criticism all you want, but c'mon - we see you.

And for the record, and I can't speak for anyone but me, I don't give a rats ass if this Disney film (for children) succeeds or fails. It just bothers me that we're in this place, yet again.

Film criticism is discussing the film and what you liked or didn’t like about it. Speaking about finances and hoping a movie bombs isn’t film criticism. That’s just bizarre.

[quote]I don't give a rats ass if this Disney film (for children) succeeds or fails. It just bothers me that we're in this place, yet again.

If you don’t like someone else’s comments about a movie, you could post why you disagree with their assessment and/or why you like the movie, and then move on. As some have pointed out, it’s just a movie. There’s no reason to be “bothered” by other people’s comments (some of which are just copy and paste from online articles about the movie and its box office). Deadline.com is not an unusual source for news posted on DL.

R221 you’re one stupid motherfucker. You have YET TO give an assessment about the movie.

Finally, an intelligent black woman speaks about this movie. Listen up, morons.

[quote]King Triton has three daughters in this, all a different race with the same side. Um…

He has far more than three daughters in this. I think there are at least seven, counting Ariel. And what does "all a different race with the same side" mean?

He had about 7 or 8 daughters. Not 3 lmao. And everyone looked different. If you all can’t see it’s just colorblind casting like Broadway does most times, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t see the issue. It’s all fictional and colorful. People included

[quote]If you all can’t see it’s just colorblind casting like Broadway does most times, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t see the issue. It’s all fictional and colorful.

Plus, they're fish.

"Breaking even" is not a "win". It means the studio can claim they broke even for the figures they publicly* announced. (*Studios purposefully deflate these figures so that the film's profits seem higher relative to the costs. Guaranteed Disney spent more on production and marketing than they publicly claim.) Even if the film exceeds $400m it will be seen as a failure for what the studio was hoping would be a tentpole. The film probably needs to make over $600m to not be considered an embarrassment and over $800 million to be a "success". Doubly so for a Disney cartoon because film proceeds are indicative of merchandise sales which is where the real money is made. If viewership drops off this weekend, that means no one is going to be buying Little Mermaid backpacks this fall.

We hope someone buys those back^packs!

Disney announced that they did this film for political reasons. It got what it deserved. It’s a woke flopfest.

Fistfight breaks out at “The Little Mermaid” screening.

I have to admit that it steamed my beans that Disney cast blond lions in the live action “The Lion King”. It is a long, slow arc to diversity after all.

R227, shut up.

^ And by that r227, I mean, a movie doesn’t have to make a billion dollars to be successful. You think the movie makers didn’t crunch the numbers? Are you lost in a cave?

Geez give it up.

That's true, but this film will break 2 billion over 5 years.

Those 5 years being 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 9672 when the inflation-juiced ticket price is $1.6 billion.

The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney Princess and as soon as I heard they were making her black I knew I wasn't seeing this film. Even if America doesn't agree, I'm happy to see the rest of the world does.

I just saw the new Spider-Man movie today. The voice cast is really diverse. And the audience was probably 30% white and 70% non-white.

I walked through the little mermaid theater where they were getting ready to show that movie. It was basically all white women and their daughters.

[quote] The voice cast is really diverse.

The most important thing!

"Spiderman" has always been aimed and boys and "The Little Mermaid" for girls.

R239 is a transphobe.

Down 69% from last Friday.

Down 54% vs. last Saturday.

The numbers will fall off the cliff next week.

R237 lmao loser, who walks around theaters to see how many black people vs white people are watching? What kind of crazy shit is that? That’s far from sane.

R242 I’m gonna encourage you to start using official, certified sites where the info is confirmed and legit and not made up sites by just anyone./.

You look stupid.

Jabba is angry.

[quote]The grand total is $163 million and it’s expected to fall off a cliff next week when Spider-Man hits theaters. The film need $750 million to break even. It’s expected to hit Disney+ in one month.

Why would anyone have expected THE LITTLE MERMAID to "fall of a cliff" due to SPIDER-MAN, when it would seem that those two films would have very different audiences for the most part?

R246 not to mention the made up numbers from the racist. It needs between $400-$450 million to break even. Not $750 million. In what world would they put almost $1 billion into a remake they knew would have backlash in the first place? Everyone involved was prepared for it and none of it was shocking to anyone. Halle Bailey has been tremendous throughout this promotion and is very good at interviews. She was prepped before anyone to deal with everything, starting with her mentor Beyoncé.

Thanks, R247. A friend of mine who knows much more than I do about film budgets and grosses said that THE LITTLE MERMAID did well at the box office in its first weekend relative to its cost.

It is doing well in the face of Klan Grannies panning a movie they never watched. And the Klan Grannies' bots. I wonder how the Racist Tory Cunts are doing in the UK?

The issue is it’s international box office. But it’s doing well enough domestically to most likely earn back its money.

Did the people who are calling it bad cuz it “flopped” see it? This is a big win for Marshall and a bigger win for Bailey who may get two.GG nominations for this and The Color Purple. She gives a star making performance as Ariel. Read her reviews. Absolute raves for her. Looking forward to TCP.

She was great

I’m confused by r236- it’s happy that most of the world is racist??

[quote]a bigger win for Bailey who may get two.GG nominations for this and The Color Purple. She gives a star making performance as Ariel. Read her reviews. Absolute raves for her

Of course the so-called critics will 'rave' about her, and the Golden Globes will nominate her. She's BLACK. A lot of people in the industry are now ultra-liberal and toe the 'woke' line. If they don't, you saw what happened to the GGs post-George Floyd.

At any rate, the movie is a flop internationally and underperforming stateside. That's bad news all around. No matter how you spin it.

R254 lmao no. It’s because she’s talented.

So again, why don’t you have a job?

Saw some of it and walked out. Its Not a movie for adults.

The Little Mermaid has made $330 million already. This film is not a flop. You dumb ass old faggots because that’s what the fuck you are behaving as you are on this thread, intent on this film failing. It’s a mafuckin Disney movie. Get a grip.

Who cares?

Why would I see this film even if it was supposed to be good?

I’m not a 10 year old little girl.

I’ve never seen the original and was born in 1988. Sorry not sorry. And I don’t plan on seeing this shit neevah but I hope it’s a great success because I hate ignorant racist cunts.

It’s not my idea of entertainment l I’m a grown ass man!

It's at 326 million! It's slowly making it. Plus clearly people liked it and word of mouth is the best promo you can't buy.

[quote]not to mention the made up numbers from the racist. It needs between $400-$450 million to break even

On what planet R247?

The budget has been reported to be $250M. Then add in ad costs/misc. Disney is indeed looking at $400M-$450M total costs.

They split the revenue with theaters roughly 50/50 though. So the (to date) $326 worldwide box office is actually only $113M to Disney's bank account. That is where the $750 comes in. They don't get every dollar.

I am not trying to shit on this movie. I saw it and thought it was ... fine.

Financially though, it is a bomb.

[quote]is actually only $113M

$163M

R262 you don’t have a single clue how any of it works. Like most people on the internet. People in the industry laugh at you people.

Please quote your sources R264.

R265 lmao sources for?

Maybe you should take all this focus you have for a movie starring a black person and apply it to looking for a job…

[quote]Maybe you should take all this focus you have for a movie starring a black person and apply it to looking for a job…

I've been wrong many times in my life R266. I'm happily to be proven wrong. I'm trying to see this from a business perspective not a racist one.

Please tell me ...

How movies are financed.

How the box office is distributed.

What points are.

Ad costs.

Why Disney (or really any studio) needs to make XXX to make XXX movie profitable.

I saw this movie and (more or less) liked it. Calling me a racist for saying it is a financial failure is ridiculous.

I don't give a fuck, Halle was perfect in this role. I don't normally champion race changes in these Disney movies, but she was the best for the job.

I’m a grown ass man!

AMC sold out all their Little Mermaid popcorn buckets that lit up in the dark at $25 a pop.

R270 yup. I saw a lot of videos on TT of people buying the cup and bucket combo. Comes out to over $40

Jesus Christ, r270, what the fuck is that THING?!

[quote]I don't give a fuck, Halle was perfect in this role. I don't normally champion race changes in these Disney movies, but she was the best for the job.

You've obviously put a lot of thought into it to make such a determination that she was the best possible actress for the role. Can you name some of the actresses you compared her against to make your finding?

[quote]Jesus Christ, [R270], what the fuck is that THING?!

That thing appears to be a British YouTuber/TikToker with the channel name mrthomasenglish. It apparently really likes The Little Mermaid.

She fits Ariel better than Emma Watson as Belle and Naomi Scott as Jasmine. Emma Watson wasn't French. Naomi Scott wasn't Arab. So why is it big deal Halle isn't European descent if Disney never strictly followed that rule in its live action adaptations so far.

Ariel is a FISH. This argument is so stupid.

I think Pinnochio flopped too

R275 Because most American cunts can’t see anything outside race. You make an excellent point but red hair of a mafuckin mermaid. Dumb ass bitches.

[quote]She fits Ariel better than Emma Watson as Belle

Emma Watson cannot fucking sing. I couldn't believe how bad she sounded when I saw (and heard) a clip of her in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and I have never been able to make it past the very beginning of that movie for that reason. In contrast, the star of THE LITTLE MERMAID has a lovely voice.

You'd think they'd just rerelease the original and make a bunch of new merch for it instead of this type of money pit. I've heard it's good, but anyone who wanted their kid to see The Little Mermaid would just show them the original animated version, which still holds up and has the exact same plot, character and songs.

Here's a clip of Halle singing all of "Part of Your World" in the film. It was captured on a phone and the sound isn't the best, but the in-theater applause at the end of the song is fun.

Yeah, if you said they were casting a black actress as the red-headed little mermaid, I might doubt the casting decision. And then you watch her performance here, and you go, "Oh."

A classic This American Life: The Greatest Phone Message of All Time (AKA You and The Little Mermaid Can Go Fuck Yourselves).

Give it a listen if you've never heard it. Or listen again if you have heard it and need a good a laugh.

For some odd reason, THE VIEW has not promoted 'The Little Mermaid' at all on their show, and both are Disney properties. They didn't have Bailey or McCarthy as a guest, they didn't have any discussion on it's box office last weekend, Sunny didn't talk about taking her daughter Paloma to see it - nada, nothing, zilch. Not a mention of this film in the past eight weeks. Nothing.

[quote]I've heard it's good, but anyone who wanted their kid to see The Little Mermaid would just show them the original animated version, which still holds up and has the exact same plot, character and songs.

Not exactly the same plot, characters, and songs.

R262 is correct.

This is a HUGE bomb for Disney. Indiana Jones needs a billion to break even. It’s the most expensive film in history and it’s one of the worst reviewed already. Disney+ makes no money and they’re deleting everything. Pixar just canned 750 people. Disney World and Disney Land are also in financial trouble.

[quote] I think Pinnochio flopped too

BIG TIME.

It’s Pinocchio.

Walt is turning in his grave - or wherever his body is these days.

Should have carved Pinocchio out of Ebony.

^No, out of Black Forest pine.

Walt is so angry he's thawing out!

Walt Disney, an incredible creative force and philanthropist would be thrilled that his dream is finally being realized. No color or race just joy of entertainment; a true American patriot.

[quote] Walt Disney, an incredible creative force and philanthropist would be thrilled that his dream is finally being realized. No color or race just joy of entertainment; a true American patriot.

And you base that assessment on the fact that South of the South had a diverse cast?

R293 I’m not familiar with that film. If you mean Song of the South which came out in 1946; it was a product of its time.

The box office is dropping off a cliff. Word of mouth must be bad. It will be a loss for Disney.

According to VARIETY, 'Little Mermaid' lost 57% of it's box office from last week's four day holiday weekend, taking in $41M this weekend. That is a huge drop for such a highly promoted movie aimed at families. Second week box office is usually based on 'word of mouth audiences' - are they hearing good recs about the movie from the audience who went on opening weekend ? Apparently, they haven't.

R280 well, sorta. This version is longer and gives Eric a backstory, and has 3 added songs to it (one of them TERRIBLE). It’s also set in the Caribbean instead of somewhere in Europe.

But still the same story.

R281 honey, we’ve heard her sing the song since last year. You act like it hasn’t been online for months.

R285 why do you reply to yourself to say you’re right? That’s not normal.

R296 actually, in modern day that’s not a huge drop. Movies drop 60+% in modern day.

So many idiots in this thread. I don’t know where to start. Pixar didn’t can 750 people. They laid off 75.

A billion at the box office would be great but as we have discussed before, it's not 1968 where box office was the one of the only revenues a studio had if you add in selling it to a network for the Saturday Night movie.

They will probably re-release it as a sing a long. There is now PPV, On Demand, Streaming, premium cable, basic cable, local network sales. Every library will buy the DVD, every parent with a girl will buy the Blu-ray then add on the soundtrack, the merchandise and it will do just fine.

Exactly r302- the OP is a certified idiot.

[quote]There is now PPV, On Demand, Streaming, premium cable, basic cable, local network sales.

You've listed the outlets that even the worst films are available on. By your definition, every movie that shows up anywhere is a "success". Saying a movie appears at some point on these outlets doesn't indicate how much of a financial success, or failure, it is.

[quote] There is now PPV, On Demand, Streaming, premium cable, basic cable, local network sales.

This analysis published yesterday at Movieweb covers all that and explains why it will still be considered a failure.

No, OP is just another Klan Granny.

90% drop in China. This is only going to be in theaters 2-3 more weeks and it goes to streaming.

The film won’t even break even. Sad. Her career is over before it even started. She should get that mole lanced. It’s as distracting as her eyes.

[quote]Sad. Her career is over before it even started.

It is sad that these actors who have one-time special casting think they will do great afterward. It's an interesting question: is it better for them to have a glorious 15 minutes of fame and then immediately fall off, or would it be less painful for them to have a normal career based on their actual acting ability instead of getting one big role for being at the right place at the right time to grab a role reserved for their ethnicity/race.

R309 Armond Rizzo hasn’t aged well.

[quote]The film won’t even break even. Sad. Her career is over before it even started. She should get that mole lanced. It’s as distracting as her eyes.

She's in the upcoming "The Color Purple" musical.

[quote] She's in the upcoming "The Color Purple" musical.

Yes, that should sink whatever remains of her career.

Damn. The Rhonda Santis ass kissers/hole lickers are working double and triple overtime to make sure this innocuous flick is a total flop.

In the court of public opinion, it would appear DeSantis is winning, at least superficially.

In legal courts, where it really matters, DeSantis and company continue to have their asses handed to them daily.

R313, please say you think there’s a connection between DeSantis and this movie because you believe mermaids come from from Weeki Wachee.

R314, you're a terrible actor and an even worse bullshit peddler.

I just checked top grossing films of 2023. The real shocker is Air, a boring film I just watched for free on Amazon. It made almost 90 million dollars! And probably cost zero because it all takes place in an office building.

It looks like movies about video games are the money makers now. Disney is definitely struggling.

[quote]It is sad that these actors who have one-time special casting think they will do great afterward. It's an interesting question: is it better for them to have a glorious 15 minutes of fame and then immediately fall off, or would it be less painful for them to have a normal career based on their actual acting ability instead of getting one big role for being at the right place at the right time to grab a role reserved for their ethnicity/race.

It may be sad for the actors, but it's annoying for the rest of us to hear them whine. Another stellar example of this is John Boyega from STAR WARS, who really seems to be trouble-making, entitled, whiney little shit.

My career is flourishing.

Precious is now really stealing fried chicken.

The Little Mermaid is literal trans genocide and I refuse to watch it.

I suspect the film will maintain its 2nd week box office through the next few weeks of the summer. This film is getting excellent word of mouth.

Major bomb in China and South Korea

The movie has grossed a mere $3.6 million its first 10 days of release in China, by far the worst showing among Disney’s live-action adaptations. The movie is also struggling badly in South Korea, where it has earned $4.4 million through June 4. Sources close to the movie, as well as box office analysts, say Disney knew Little Mermaid could face challenges, but is surprised by the extent of the backlash and its impact.

Bad precedence.

This movie would be doing gang busters if they had been faithful to the 1989 film.

Look at what nostalgia did for TOP GUN: MAVERICK ($1.4 billion) and SUPER MARIO BROS. ($1.3 billion) who were loyal to their source and respectful of the fanbase.

Will LITTLE MERMAID even reach $500 million?

Oof, the international numbers are terrible. This will be VOD before long.

Exactly, R325 I don't know if it's still true but for most of the 2000s/2010s Ariel has been considered by Disney to be the most popular princess, so if not for the blackwashing it actually could have had a shot at a billion dollars.

I have a feeling the new remake of 'The Color Purple' will see the same fate as 'Till', when it gets released later this year. I hope it does well, but I have a feeling it won't live up to box office expectations.

Live action adaptations with animal cast look terrible. They can’t produce the expressiveness (facial and body) seen in animation. Also I don’t think Asian markets appreciate colorblind casting. They aren’t obsessed about racial equity like the US.

I don't have high hopes for the new version of TCP. The director doesn't have a great track record. I know they wanted to pick a POC as director given the complaints about Spielberg's handling of the original, but there were better choices for black directors. Plus, Fantasia is playing Celie? No thank you.

You can’t beat the original “Color Purple” nor the drama behind it. Rae Dawn Chong calling Oprah a n——-, that was priceless.

[quote]Rae Dawn Chong calling Oprah a n——-, that was priceless.

WHAT HAPPENED R331 ? I never heard this one before.

[quote]I have a feeling the new remake of 'The Color Purple' will see the same fate as 'Till', when it gets released later this year. I hope it does well, but I have a feeling it won't live up to box office expectations.

The original film was a blockbuster smash (the 4th highest-grossing film of 1985) because of white people, but I don't see the new remake (a musical to boot) appealing to current white America nor to foreigners.

I don't follow Broadway. Has the stage show been successful cross-country and abroad?

Disney could release The Prince Eric Butthole Cut to help recoup some costs

R334 stinky linky

TCP should be shelved for awhile. It seems like too much of a downer to bring in a large multiracial audience.

Hollywood is in danger. They don’t seem to know how to make entertaining, engaging stories anymore. South Korea is kicking its ass.

Hmm try this one, r335

R333 The original run of TCP on Broadway ran from 2005-2008, and recouped its $11M investment within the first year of its run. It grossed over $103M when it closed in 2008.

This was followed by three national tours. The first (2007 -2010) started off as a full-scale Equity production and was very strong at the box offices, but then dwindled as time went on. The second (2010 - 2011) was a cheaper, non-Equity production playing smaller cities than the first tour, and did well (since expenses were slashed). The third tour ran in 2012 with another non-Equity bare-bones production to a handful of small cities and small venues.

In 2013, a West End production opened and closed in less than two months. It was not popular with West End audiences.

Oprah announced a 2015 revival on Broadway, and this production would be the same one which was produced for London in 2013. The revival ran for a little over a year (December 2015 - January 2017) which is very good for a revival.

But times have definitely changed since January, 2017. Will audiences (especially a white audience) flock to see this on the big screen seven years later ? Time will tell. Will it appeal to a minority audience ? Looking at the past performances of the musical 'West Side Story' and the drama 'Till' (2 films which were marketed to minority audiences), I think not.

R332

R339 WOW ! Thanks for the link. I guess RDC will never be invited to one of Oprah's parties for all eternity.

R330- Fantasia is a likely Oscar nominee in this. She was great on Broadway and her work looks good in the movie trailer.

Funny to read this thread and see so many invested in this being a bomb and see how many people who have no understanding of the movie industry pretending they do.

First, movie budget and advertising costs are ALWAYS overinflated. Like Trump devaluing his properties for tax purposes, movie studios do it constantly. They claim inflated costs for everything and, if they don't make their money back, it's a tax deduction.

Second, audience receipts are but a fraction of how movie companies make money. Even before a movie is made, they sell rights to streaming, airplane companies, hotel chains, DVD/Blu ray, and on and on. And YES, nearly EVERY film Hollywood makes is a financial success because of these deals.

In time Disney will make vast sums of money because of this Little Mermaid. Black girls are already wearing Little Mermaid costumes and demanding to go to Disney World to see the live Black Little Mermaid. Disney will attract more Black audiences to its cruises, ice shows, and parks because it has this Black character.

This movie has already many more money than the original version.

Halle Bailey got universal raves for this role and it (with Color Purple) will launch a brilliant career

I wouldn't call it a bomb, but it's a disappointment. Among other things, the studio's percentage of the box office take goes down every week a film is in a theatre. The BO in China really is terrible compared to earlier live-action remakes. I suspect Disney brass is having second thoughts about its Snow White strategy, though they're stuck with it now.

Disney wanted to have it both ways--they wanted the audiences they've cultivated through aggressive brand management for 30 years and they wanted the diverse thing--but that's hard to pull off. If you tell everyone Ariel is a pale-skinned redhead for 30-odd years, don't be surprised when people think she should be played by a pale-skinned redhead. Particularly in a brand-conscious country like China.

China, Korea, and Vietnam's social medias are full of responses about Bailey being the "n-word" sea monster who is going to devour Prince Eric and how the actress playing Vanessa is far more deserving of Eric than "n-word" with the big nose, fish eyes, and "mud-colored" skin.

In China, they are also already turning on Snow White and how Zegler looks like an alien with her large forehead. China especially hates her because apparently she dissed a Chinese fan in a video that went viral there.

And the East Asia drought continues--$5 million opening weekend in Japan. Into the Spiderverse is about to blow past it on overall BO take.

Zegler seems to have a talent for coming off badly. Halle Bailey seems to be likeable, but Zegler has stepped into it before with her whining about not having an Oscar invite when she was filming overseas.

She does have upcoming projects, but my gut sense is that she's going to fade.

Zegler's career was DOA from the beginning. West Side Story was a disaster and only Ariana DeBose had any career momentum from that (and even that was mostly because of how many checkmarks she ticked off). Her Shazam film was just as big a disaster and she's not even a lead in that. No one cares about Hunger Games anymore so that'll flop and her Snow "White" will do even worse than Mermaid which is saying something.

The Little Mermaid is hugely popular in Japan. They love Ariel there and she's one of their most popular characters. They even have an entire Little Mermaid land at the Disney Park there so you can imagine the Japanese were not pleased with the race bending. Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King were all enormous blockbusters in Japan in comparison.

Meanwhile woke Twitter is trying to paint the entire subcontinent of East Asia as racist. China did not take well to that and they will not forget. The woke Twitter mob will be paid in kind when they are groveling on their knees as slaves to their Chinese overseers when China inevitably takes over the world.

This movie is a huge success. Klan grannies feed off this negative energy. It’s just making a little less because of the Chinese brainwashed by Klan grannies great great great great grandmammys and granddaddys.

I'm with woke Twitter on this one. Asian countries need a racial reformation (for lack of a better phrase). Their attitudes towards black and brown people are so backwards, like 60+ years ago. They won't acknowledge it either. I wish Hollywood didn't need their revenue.

And China won't forget us calling them out on their racism, R347? We won't ever forget covid, it's origins and their lies.

I have no ill will towards this movie, I hope it does well. Let the bad people over on The Flash be the ones with a huge flop.

Why should Asian countries care about black people when they have none? Do Americans care about the Sami or the Romani or the Uyghurs? Japan is basically 99% Japanese ethnically.

[quote] I have no ill will towards this movie, I hope it does well.

Lol, it's already been a box office disaster. Wokesters were touting it to make $1 billion and now it'll just barely make $500 mill. It needs to make $645 just to break even so not only will it not make a profit, they've lost millions on top of it.

[quote]First, movie budget and advertising costs are ALWAYS overinflated. Like Trump devaluing his properties for tax purposes, movie studios do it constantly. They claim inflated costs for everything

You have that ass backwards. The self-reported budget and marketing costs are always under reported. Any trade analyst always says something like “$140 million marketing is what they admitted publicly so you know it’s much higher than that.”

[quote]I'm with woke Twitter on this one. Asian countries need a racial reformation

You’re an idiot. Get your head out of your ass.

R353 is correct. Follow the Box Office subreddit and you'll see the experts talking about how costly this movie was plus the extra millions they pumped into marketing because Disney was so desperate to make this film work. This abomination will not come even remotely close to breaking even. Everytime Disney has tried to go woke with one of their recent movies, it has been a box office disaster.

[quote]Look at what nostalgia did for TOP GUN: MAVERICK ($1.4 billion) and SUPER MARIO BROS. ($1.3 billion) who were loyal to their source and respectful of the fanbase.

Can you imagine if Super Mario Bros decided to make Princess Peach black? The retards on Twitter would be braying “It’s fiction. The Mushroom Kingdom🍄 is imaginary so the princess can be any color.” No, she cannot, fuckers. Princess Peach is white. The audience would have revolted.

Or if they made Luigi black and said he was adopted like the fuckery they pulled with Prince Eric being adopted by black royalty. Nintendo fans would have been sooooo mad. Would you call them racist then?

Game nerds would have been apoplectic if they made Mario, Luigi, or Peach black. Japan would have been outraged since Nintendo is their national heritage.

Mark my words, if The Little Mermaid had been cast accurately with an authentic, white redhead, TLM would have made an easy $1 billion minimum at the box office. The film is not just a disaster in all of Asia but also underperforming in Europe. The live-action remakes are very popular in France but this one is drastically behind BATB, Aladdin, TLK, etc. in grosses.

There are already reports that yesterday was the last day in many places throughout the US where the film aired. They've already removed it from theaters by now in about half the country if not more.

[quote]also underperforming in Europe. The live-action remakes are very popular in France but this one is drastically behind BATB, Aladdin, TLK, etc. in grosses

Because France is racist! Also Germany is racist where it also drastically under performed.

[quote]This movie is a huge success. Klan grannies feed off this negative energy. It’s just making a little less because of the Chinese brainwashed by Klan grannies great great great great grandmammys and granddaddys.

The movie is a huge success? How?!? It lost the studio over $600 million. It’s going to finish with a global total of $440,000 when it should have made $1.4 billion like the other three big live action remakes. And why blame the Chinese for this? China only contributed $57 million to Aladdin’s $1.2 billion box office so it’s not like it really makes a difference. In contrast, China was the biggest international market for Black Panther so they do embrace black-led movies.

[quote] Because France is racist! Also Germany is racist where it also drastically under performed.

r358 Sure. The whole world other than North America (maybe add Mexico) is racist. So what does that say about the smug extra racist pieces after pieces by singling out "East Asians racists. Uneducated backwards savage racists"? Usual leftist racism.

[quote]I'm with woke Twitter on this one. Asian countries need a racial reformation (for lack of a better phrase). Their attitudes towards black and brown people are so backwards, like 60+ years ago. They won't acknowledge it either. I wish Hollywood didn't need their revenue. And China won't forget us calling them out on their racism, [R347]? We won't ever forget covid, it's origins and their lies.

Spoken like a true racist. We're proud of you.

[quote]Or if they made Luigi black and said he was adopted like the fuckery they pulled with Prince Eric being adopted by black royalty.

I had mixed feeling about the new LITTLE MERMAID, but yes, adding that whole adoption thing FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE of creating the new character of a black Queen was incredibly stupid and annoyingly, obviously "woke." On a related note, what sort of "kingdom" is that supposed to be -- some place that seems sort of like Jamaica but has a Queen and a prince who live in a castle?

[quote]You have that ass backwards. The self-reported budget and marketing costs are always under reported. Any trade analyst always says something like “$140 million marketing is what they admitted publicly so you know it’s much higher than that.”

Wow, you know nothing about movie marketing.

If you think Disney spent nearly a billion dollars making and advertising The Little Mermaid, I got a bridge to sell you. Disney has never made anywhere near a billion with these live-action remakes. It knows very very well about the antipathy towards Black actors in Asia. It's playing the long game.

Movie companies use financial sleight of hand when summing the costs. Many of the people who work on the productions are salaried employees. Companies count that same salary as a cost in ever film they make that year. They also count the costs of the machinery and computers. Movie companies have standing contracts with advertising outlets workldwide. They count the same fees for every single movie's advertisement. And on and on and on. Never trust the cost released by a film company--the higher the number, the better the company and everyone feeding off it looks.

That said, The Little Mermaid is actually doing as Disney predicted--high grosses in the US, and lower internationally--but Disney movies have longer staying power than most other movies. Generation after generation will watch Disney movies. and buy billions in products. Again, Disney keeps playing the long game

Being "woke" with regards to interracial casting is nothing new at Disney.

Over a decade ago, the Disney channel often had shows with interracial families, with no explanation given why parents are black and kids are white, etc.

But now that the right has taken white supremacy mainstream, suddenly they're going after Disney.

[quote] That said, The Little Mermaid is actually doing as Disney predicted

Yes, it’s already been stated that with Disney’s commitment to doing diversity casting on TLM instead of making the best movie possible, faithful to the original, they were knowingly willing to sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars in box office.

[quote]Yes, it’s already been stated that with Disney’s commitment to doing diversity casting on TLM instead of making the best movie possible, faithful to the original, they were knowingly willing to sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars in box office

So casting a black Little Mermaid is what prevented it from being the best movie possible?

A black Little Mermaid has now given Disney a whole new group of admirers willing to spend money on Disney products.

The American Market is still in the top two for the world. Disney knows what it's doing.

The Little Mermaid's sisters aren't multicultural just for the heck of it. The represent the 7 seas.

R368, In other words, an addlepated rationale for checking the inclusion boxes.

Thanks to whomever mentioned r/boxoffice. Looks like Pixar's Elemental is tanking, which is a shame since it's actually an original idea and we're living in remake hell these days. Little Mermaid continues to stagger along--as I said, it's a disappointment, not a bomb. I continue to think it's less about racism, per se, and more about building a brand over 30 years and then undermining it. I don't recall films like Moana and Encanto, which feature brown girl leads having this kind of issue.

I always thought the first Into the Spiderverse got inclusion right. The protagonist is Puerto Rican/Black, but there are all sorts of Spidermen (and girls) in the film that come together. Peter Parker shows up and he is still a white guy. Everybody gets to play.

R369 Elemental looks like a rip off of that movie about emotions.

French film critics gave TLM 1 star review, I guess it's hard to call that review bombing, so they just ignore the French and focus on Korea and China, how dare you don't like the movie we made???

R370, You mean Pixar's Inside Out? Yeah, I do think the character design looks really similar.

I wonder if we're finally hitting a point where we realize you can't just swap out a problematic white guy for someone deemed more suitable and get the same results. John Lassiter had personal/social issues, but the guy knew how to generate original money-making movies. While there have been some good Pixar films since he left, the scripts have not been as tight.

While the Little Mermaid isn't a bomb, it's also not a money maker and Disney needed it to be one. It was supposed to be the low-risk cash cow that expanded the Little Mermaid franchise--it also makes it controversial--if you dress up as original Ariel are you making a political statement? Better just to go dress up as Belle or Cinderella. Or maybe someone in the Marvel Universe . . .

It was a stupid move by Disney. Should have come up with a new property with a Black heroine (where she isn't a frog for most of the movie and ends up working hard running a restaurant at the end) and marketed the shit out of it.

[quote]While the Little Mermaid isn't a bomb

It IS a bomb. 💣 It under-performed by $600,000,000+. If any other exec in another studio left more than $600 million on the table, their heads would roll.

[quote]So casting a black Little Mermaid is what prevented it from being the best movie possible?

That was just one of the problems in a looooooong laundry list of issues with this movie. Now move your scuttlebutt along. I said move your scuttlebutt and go.

[quote] I continue to think it's less about racism, per se, and more about building a brand over 30 years and then undermining it.

It IS about racism. White are upset the brand was undermined by making the mermaid black.

[quote]It IS a bomb. 💣 It under-performed by $600,000,000+. If any other exec in another studio left more than $600 million on the table, their heads would roll.

Yes, it underperformed from a made-up number.

[quote]I always thought the first Into the Spiderverse got inclusion right. The protagonist is Puerto Rican/Black, but there are all sorts of Spidermen (and girls) in the film that come together. Peter Parker shows up and he is still a white guy. Everybody gets to play.

The reason people embraced Spiderverse is because they did NOT blackwash Peter Parker. If they had said this black guy is Peter Parker with a black Aunt May and a black Uncle Ben, people would have completely rejected it just like they’re rejecting the new Ariel. They did not erase Peter Parker. He still exists alongside a black Spider-Man. No one would have had an issue if Halle was Ariel’s friend instead of replacing Ariel.

If Japan/Korea/China is so racist then why is Spiderverse starring a black Spider-Man such a huge hit there?? Why is Dominque Fishburn’s Transformers such a hit. Why is Fast X such a hit? Out of these four black movies why is it only The Little Mermaid that flopped so hard?

R375, You're right. And Capitalism allows for that dislike, whether it's about race, change per se, format, cast, or ticket price.

Not every main character (Little Mermaid, Dr. Frank N. Furter, Dorothy, etc.) needs to be "re-imagined" racially.

Ya pays yer (producer) money, and ya takes yer chances.

[quote]Yes, it underperformed from a made-up number.

How is it a made-up number? It is being comped to the other big 3 live action remakes. Each one reached over a billion dollars. This one is stalling in the $400 millions. That’s $600 million left on the table that they could have easily gotten. They actually could have gotten much more than that since The Little Mermaid is so beloved, perhaps more so than the other big 3 of the Disney renaissance. It was the first one and has a special place in the hearts of three generations.

[quote]That was just one of the problems in a looooooong laundry list of issues with this movie.

Exactly. The bad casting is only one of a lot of bad choices made in making this move.

R375, So the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are white? And the United States is where the film has done okay. The U.S. is one of the less racist countries out there--something that gets lost in all the screaming. Funny, isn't it?

Again, Disney has been brilliant at developing brand loyalty and then, when their devotees showed that brand loyalty, they were told, nope, you're racist.

This was so easy to predict.

[quote] it also makes it controversial--if you dress up as original Ariel are you making a political statement? Better just to go dress up as Belle or Cinderella. Or maybe someone in the Marvel Universe . . .

This has already begun. black Twitter is claiming that anyone who posts videos of the original Ariel and her movie on social media, makes fanart, discusses her, dresses up as her, buys her merchandise, etc. is racist. Their reasoning is that the original Ariel has been around for more than 30 years so she had their time. Now only black Ariel counts as the real one and she belongs to the black community. Original Ariel has no reason to exist anymore and acknowledging her is equivalent to a hate crime against blacks.

Disney has done the equivalent of what Trump did to COVID, politicize something that had nothing to do with politics in the first place. They are a morally bankrupt company and they are adding fuel to the fire with the new Disney Jr show that also has Ariel permanently as black. The showrunner (a black woman obviously) is gushing on and on about how this was made for black girls so they can see themselves and this is the Ariel of today.

R382, if this is the case, then Disney turning a character with widespread appeal into something for a niche market. Any attempts to walk (swim) back are going to be challenging as well. It really was stupid of Disney to do it this way.

I see they've got Wish coming out, which looks to feature a quasi-Latina princess (i.e. kingdom is off the coast of Iberia and Disney doesn't seem to understand that Spaniards and Portuguese are Europeans). Clearly Disney has looked at the burgeoning Latin American market and putting its money there--particularly since Encanto and Coco both did well.

One of the things that gets lost in the discussion about race in the United States is that while the percentage of white Americans is shrinking, it's not because the percentage of Blacks is growing--those numbers are pretty flat. The growth is from Hispanics and Asians--Hispanics are already the largest minority group in the US and Asians are the fastest growing--if the trends continue, Blacks will not only be a minority, they'll be in third place--i.e. it will be like California.

[quote]So the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are white?

Yes, they are, if you’re going by skin color. Some are whiter than white people. They are not brown or black people.

R383 Wish is supposedly set in Spain or some Latin country but apparently the heroine is black or has black ancestry. I saw some Spaniards complaining on Twitter that Disney was taking their culture but making it completely inaccurate by making her black. They said if she wasn't Spanish, then making her Middle Eastern/Muslim would have made more sense because of the Muslim presence in Spain hundreds of years ago but it doesn't make sense to make her black. Of course because Adriana DeBose is playing her, they're following her racial makeup. I've also noticed a trend that anytime Hollywood tries to make any projects based on Hispanics, blacks get angry and cry racism for not portraying Afro-Latinos. Except they never seem to mind the fact that most black movies and shows never feature Afro-Latinos.

And like you said, Hispanics are the largest minority in the US and will soon outnumber whites. Asians have the largest populations in the world. Diversity in films would make more sense if they reflected Hispanics and Asians not blacks.

[quote]A black Little Mermaid has now given Disney a whole new group of admirers willing to spend money on Disney products.

Uh, they were already buying Disney products. You think black girls didn’t know who Ariel is or couldn’t relate to her because she’s white? And now because she’s black, she’s relatable and can be introduced to this new audience? It doesn’t work like that. They already love and relate to all the Disney princesses because they don’t see color. People from Africa, Mexico, Japan all relate to Ariel. That’s why Ariel is the number one most popular princess in Asia, even ahead of Milan.

[quote]I saw some Spaniards complaining on Twitter that Disney was taking their culture but making it completely inaccurate by making her black.

Spain is so racist. Like France and Germany they also did not turn out for The Little Mermaid.

R387 So if Hollywood made a film on Chinese royalty but used a black woman as the Chinese princess, you wouldn't find that racist? Or if they cast a Korean as a Russian princess? If you find those unacceptable, then it's equally as unacceptable as to blackwash a Spanish princess as black.

For example, Catherine of Aragorn (Henry VIII's first wife) was a Spaniard and she was a white redhead.

[quote] That’s why Ariel is the number one most popular princess in Asia, even ahead of Milan.

Mulan is really not popular in Asia. Most of Asia hates China so they don't like Mulan. In Japan, which is one of the biggest Disney countries out there, they don't even know who Mulan is. When Mulan appeared at the Shanghai Disney World in a parade, the Japanese were confused and accused China of forcing their culture on Disney by shoehorning in their characters. You won't ever find the Koreans liking something as blatantly Chinese as Mulan either. Even in China, Disney's Mulan is considered a joke. They use her in the Disney parks to promote Chinese nationalism but everyday Chinese people have their own legends of Mulan and don't want a Western interpretation. Disney's Mulan they think is very ugly as she doesn't adhere to Chinese beauty standards. Chinese think most western examples of Chinese women are ugly and part of a western conspiracy to make Chinese look ugly to the rest of the world. When a Chinese American woman won some US state beauty pageant, she went viral on Chinese social media as they were making fun of how ugly she looked, how Americans think she is an example of Chinese beauty, and how she resembled Disney's Mulan (round, puffy face, tan/olive skin, not petite, etc.)

Hey R359, Your prediction that The Little Mermaid would "finish" with a global total of $440 million was shortsighted to put it politely. It's already at $467 million and it's still in the top 5. It'll probably reach $500 million maybe more. People tried to do the same thing to Wakanda Forever (Hmmm, I wonder if there is a connection) and that movie ended up being the 5th most profitable movie last year. .

ANY movie that needs to make $750 million just to break even shouldn't be made. I'm not sure I believe that number, by the way. Still, the movie will hit half a billion dollars and there are idiots calling it a bomb (!?!). No movie that makes half a billion dollars is a bomb. It may not make back it's exorbitant cost but it's not a bomb if it's generating THAT much money. It shows that there were plenty of people who wanted to see it. The fact that it's still in the top five making money proves that there are a lot of people who don't give a crap about the casting. They just want to see the movie.

Hold me Walt. I'm scared.

[quote]No movie that makes half a billion dollars is a bomb. It may not make back it's exorbitant cost but it's not a bomb if it's generating THAT much money.

Sorry, but any movie that loses money is a bomb. Black Adam almost made $400 million but it’s still a bomb.

[quote] that movie ended up being the 5th most profitable movie last year.

R391 you mean the 5th biggest box office last year, the box office and profit are two different things, you could have a movie reaching 1 billion box office but still losing money, Avatar the sequel cost almost half billion to make, add the distribution and marketing which was almost half of the production budget, Avatar would require at least 1 billion to break even on paper, mind you not every dollar reported in the box office goes to the studio.

"box office or ticket price revenue, traditionally, a larger chunk went to the studio during the opening weekend of a film. As the weeks went on, the theater operator's percentage rose. A studio might make about 60% of a film's ticket sales in the United States, and around 20% to 40% of that on overseas ticket sales."

TLM production cost alone is 250 million and Disney spent $140M on global marketing, for TLM to turn green, its box office will need to be in 600~700 million to break even for Disney, so far it was not there, TLM might be able to cross 500 million mark in a few weeks but a higher box office number of 600 million is very unlikely.

R393, stop lying. The Little Mermaid is a HUGE hit! It made half a billion dollars!!! That’s billion with a B, bruh. I’d like to see you make that much money. You wouldn’t be able to in your pathetic lifetime.

The worst part of the fiasco is that Disney will not learn from it and will continue to make movies based on quotas and correctness instead of trying to make a quality movie.

[quote]Sorry, but any movie that loses money is a bomb. Black Adam almost made $400 million but it’s still a bomb.

I disagree. The word "bomb" should be reserved for movies that really tank at the box office, not for movies that don't perform as well as expected but still make hundreds of millions of dollars at the B.O.

This is so funny; hearing people who have no clue how distribution works try to pretend to understand it. It's not a direct 50/50, but a sliding scale. And for a big release like Little Mermaid, I bet you that the entire first weekend went all to Disney.

After secondary markets, it will turn a profit.

Then why are all the trades saying it won’t turn a profit? I think I’ll trust the professionals on this.

R397 is a Disney plant with no knowledge of how the box office works. Makes him perfect as an employee for the Mouse.

It will turn a profit with streaming. It’s selling the streaming rights exclusively to Disney Positive for $100 million so that puts it over the $500 million mark. So it made half a billion dollars!!! Ca-Ching!! 💸💰💸

R384, You sound a little desperate. East Asians have never been considered "white" and there's a nice history of legal discrimination and racism to prove it. And if you're going by skin color, I've got news for you--none of us are white, we're all shades of beige and brown.

R397, The Little Mermaid opened all over--and it's expensive to do that. So, yes, most of that first weekend's box office take went to Disney, but it wasn't enough and, given Disney's other films not performing well, it's an issue when one of its key bits of IP underperforms. The Little Mermaid should have been a safe bet--and safe bet for Disney means a picture that makes, yes, a billion worldwide. Yes, technically, it doesn't need to bring in a billion to break even, but the company was looking at it asinsurance to help pay for riskier productions such as Elemental and Wish, which are new stories with no built-in fan base.

Boris, it's called Disney Plus, not Disney Positive, R400. Also, Disney is the studio here, it doesn't sell it to itself.

Thank you, R396, you said exactly what I was thinking. The term "bomb" should be reserved for movies that hardly anyone turns out for. Movies that make half a billion dollars have considerable audience interest, they are simply not going to recoup their cost. If they cost a bit less they'd be considered blockbuster successes whereas a bomb is a bomb at any price because NO ONE wants to see it.

R393, I know the difference between gross and profit. I was quoting Deadline Hollywood which says it was the 5th most profitable. Here's their ranking. Take it up with them:

Rank | Movie (Distributor) | Profit

1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) – $531.7M 2. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) – $391.1M 3. Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal) – $382.0M 4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney) – $284.0 5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) – $259.0M 6. Jurassic World Dominion (Universal) – $229.7M 7. The Batman (Warner Bros) – $177.0M 8. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – $120.2M 9. Thor: Love and Thunder (Disney) – $103.0M 10. Smile (Paramount) – $101.0M

Let me make it easier to read:

Rank | Movie (Distributor) | Profit

1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) – $531.7M

2. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) – $391.1M

3. Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal) – $382.0M

4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney) – $284.0

5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) – $259.0M

6. Jurassic World Dominion (Universal) – $229.7M

7. The Batman (Warner Bros) – $177.0M

8. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – $120.2M

9. Thor: Love and Thunder (Disney) – $103.0M

10. Smile (Paramount) – $101.0M

Another thing to consider is that the cast is pretty homely.

People don't want to stare at ugly, especially on the big screen.

Not to mention that the whole thing looks dark and gloomy.

Until fairly recently, Hollywood was renown for its pretty actors and optimistic/uplifting films.

We outside of the USA who loved Hollywood always counted on that.

If I want something depressing and ugly, I'll watch European films.

I hope Hollywood rids itself of this 'woke' stuff before it's too late, because it's really bringing it down.

r377- Black male leads vs. female leads.

If Disney wanted a black mermaid so bad they should have just done a spin-off.

In the time and money they used on this disaster they could have introduced an original black character as a best friend for the real Ariel in an animated film and then a more modestly priced live action with the black mermaid and her story as the main star and focus on both films.

Fans would have tuned in because it's officially part of The Little Mermaid story/lore, merchandise sales would be have been through the roof because it would have featured the Ariel everyone knows and loves and it would have paved the way for a Live Action The Little Mermaid that would have made a billion dollars, making money all along the way.

[quote] In the time and money they used on this disaster they could have introduced an original black character as a best friend for the real Ariel in an animated film and then a more modestly priced live action with the black mermaid and her story as the main star and focus on both films.

Yes, like Black Panther was in an Avengers movie, and then starred in his own. The racism in Hollywood results in studios usually thinking that they need to blackwash an established white character for it to be successful and they don’t feel original black characters will sell.

Ariel as friend is actually a terrific solution to the problem--She could have been a princess from a neighboring sea. And if that worked, then you could keep developing the underwater world and bring in more oceans and mermaids, tapping into mermaid lore from around the world.

according to Disney, everyone in the world should just repaint themselves black. And the ones who can't should just kill themselves because no one who isn't black is considered worthy to live on this earth anymore.

[quote][R377]- Black male leads vs. female leads.

Dominique Fishback is male to you?! I know she did trans into Tony but still.

R410 that pretty much defines self-loathing white 'progressives' (mainly 'woke' women and gay men) who are pushing 'black supremacy' at any cost.

R412 hence the current state of the U.S. entertainment industry, especially Broadway.

R410 MARY!

[quote] that pretty much defines self-loathing white 'progressives' (mainly 'woke' women and gay men) who are pushing 'black supremacy' at any cost.

Funny how racists frame any call for equality as black supremacy

Odd that some are so invested in The Little Mermaid bombing.

I never saw this type of DL discussion about any other recent Live Action Disney movie. Wonder why?

[quote]I never saw this type of DL discussion about any other recent Live Action Disney movie. Wonder why?

Which other live-action Disney movies in particular do you think had as bad casting and creative choices as TLM, and and because of that, it’s unfair to discuss TLM when they were not discussed? Please be specific about how the casting and creatives choices for those films were as bad or worse than TLM. If you can provide that, maybe we can help you get an answer to your question. .

[quote] Which other live-action Disney movies in particular do you think had as bad casting and creative choices as TLM, and and because of that, it’s unfair to discuss TLM when they were not discussed? Please be specific about how the casting and creatives choices for those films were as bad or worse than TLM. If you can provide that, maybe we can help you get an answer to your question. .

Define what you mean by "bad casting" and "creative choices."

R417, I would say the casting of Emma Watson as Belle in the live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was far, far worse that any of the casting in THE LITTLE MERMAID, because Watson cannot fucking sing. I've tried more than once to get through that film, but whenever she starts to sing, I have to turn it off. And I hope you don't have to be reminded that Will Smith's performance as the Genie in ALADDIN was not universally loved, to put it mildly. Nor was the performance of that guy who played the title role in that movie, who has now slunk back into obscurity and blames that fact on Hollywood "racism."

Update:

Unmitigated proof that the movie was a flop. Disney is learning the hard way that wokeness does not translate into $$$ and families will not give their hard earned money to have their children indoctrinated with CRT.

From some posts above:

[quote] Another thing to consider is that the cast is pretty homely. People don't want to stare at ugly, especially on the big screen.

[quote] Disney is learning the hard way that wokeness does not translate into $$$ and families will not give their hard earned money to have their children indoctrinated with CRT.

Disney released a few clips of the musical numbers from the movie, including the one at link. Are these the two actors you believe are homely and ugly? Is this clip an example of Critical Race Theory? You guys didn't mention anything about groomers, but are they groomers, too?

Do words even mean anything anymore?

The clip at r422 is too rape-y for me. I realize it's not the story, but it has the appearance of the colonial white slave owner having his way with an enslaved girl. Another thing Disney didn't take into consideration when making its bad choices.

The film is a great success. Inches closer to 600 mil each day.

R424 is lying, it's not even reaching 500 million yet

[quote]The clip at [R422] is too rape-y for me. I realize it's not the story, but it has the appearance of the colonial white slave owner having his way with an enslaved girl. Another thing Disney didn't take into consideration when making its bad choices.

Are you making a sick joke? Or do you really believe that any love scene between a white man and a black woman "has the appearance of the colonial white slave owner having his way with an enslaved girl?"

R426, don’t pretend the scene takes place in current time. Look at how they are dressed.

R427, whether or not the scene takes place "in current time" has nothing to do with whether or not a master/slave relationship is depicted. Which, of course, is not the case. And also, a slave would not be dressed like that.

R428 The cunt knows that. Don’t feed it. It is trolling you.

[quote] families will not give their hard earned money to have their children indoctrinated with CRT.

More proof that the right uses CRT to mean anything showing Blacks as an equal part of society.

[quote] [R424] is lying, it's not even reaching 500 million yet

Boo Hoo!! Little Mermaid made half a billion dollars in box office alone....

R422, not the poster who called the cast homely, but none of them are beautiful in the traditional, Disney aesthetic (and I say that as someone who personally thinks Halle Bailey is beautiful). A younger Halle Berry, Vanessa Williams or Zendaya would fit the Disney mold perfectly. appearance-wise. The same could absolutely be said be said for Emma Watson, who is very ordinary in appearance and too old for the role, BUT, her built-in large fan base from Harry Potter probably one her the role regardless of her looks or singing capabilities (still think they had better choices, even though I love Emma otherwise).

Brandy was a perfect casting choice for Cinderella as was Lily James.

Halle Bailey would be absolute perfection in an non-Disney, adult version of this tale, perhaps directed by Pedro Almodóvar or someone similar. It's a shame Anderson's tales are mostly relegated to children's fare when some are quite dark and would make for interesting adult fare.

I'm kind of astounded by posters here who feel that the actor who plays Prince Eric in the new LITTLE MERMAID is "not beautiful" or even "homely."

R430 CRT works on guilt. If you want people's money, guilting them turns it into a hard sale. If blacks are truly equal parts of the society, Prince Eric had no business staying white. It serves to remind potential customers of the Nordic origins of the story (which was even about unrequited gay love of HCAndersen's, projected onto the mermaid species longing for a life on land.)

Really, R433? He looks pretty 'meh' to me, but I wouldn't expect much more from a nepo baby. Oh well, at least they didn't try to jam Timmy into this.

[quote] whether or not the scene takes place "in current time" has nothing to do with whether or not a master/slave relationship is depicted.

Yes it does. They are dressed for the period when there was colonial slavery.

OP is a racist who is creating other racist threads here at DL.

[quote]He looks pretty 'meh' to me, but I wouldn't expect much more from a nepo baby.

Oh, of course. Because aside from everything else,, "nepo babies" as a rule are not good looking.

They're generally not, R438, with some exceptions... Alexander Skarsgård being one... he could totally get it.

[quote]OP is a racist who is creating other racist threads here at DL.

Exactly, r437.

Week 7 and TLM still has not made it to $500mil (but will probably do so this week).

[quote]This movie is a huge success. Klan grannies feed off this negative energy. It’s just making a little less because of the Chinese brainwashed by Klan grannies great great great great grandmammys and granddaddys.

Such a unique perception of reality.