According to industry estimates, The Little Mermaid pulled in a $30m Saturday, which was the same amount of money Disney’s Aladdin pulled in on its Saturday over Memorial Day weekend; with revised outlook for the Rob Marshall directed musical at $95.5M over three days and $117.5M over four per Disney this AM.

Despite the easing of grosses, that’s not a bad thing; this just happens when the industry projects out a 4-day weekend. Rivals still see the movie doing between $121M-$123M, and it would not be shocking to see Little Mermaid resurfacing to that range which is closer to its earlier week opening projection. We’ll see how much a boost Sunday and Monday can bring. Aladdin wound up doing another $30M on its Sunday, and a $25.3M Memorial Day Monday for a $116.8M 4-day start. Imax screens were split up between Little Mermaid, which did $7M, and Fast X at night, which made $1.4M for an $8.2M running total.

EntTelligence estimates that Little Mermaid pulled in 7.4M admissions over three days and potentially 9.2M over four. Not including preview night, Little Mermaid reps 59% of this weekend’s moviegoing foot traffic so far. Average ticket price was $13.37 for all formats general, $11.19 for a child and $11.65 for a senior. Matinees (1PM-5PM) were huge repping 35%.

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.

While there was no car partner, as is standard on a Marvel movie, Disney counted myriad ad partners:

–McDonald’s launched a Happy Meal program supported by an “under the sea fun” themed drive-thru.

–HSN and Disney teamed up with Regal to launch the first shoppable augmented reality experience of its kind for a collectible ticket, supported by a two-hour special.

–Mattel broke new ground with its manufacturing to create doll hair that depicts Ariel’s. The item was so hot, that the social presale drop sold out within 24 hours and was ranked No. 1 best seller in dolls across various retailers. In addition, they’ve created eight dolls to support the launch of the Mom Influencer Campaign focused on Black mothers, and launched a first-time global partnership to develop a custom TV spot.

–BOOKING.COM designed a bespoke listing for the Ultimate Little Mermaid Getaway that brought the ocean’s aesthetic to a home on land.

–ULTA partnered with two beauty brands, including Black Girl Sunscreen and Pacifica, for the first time ever and created a licensed collection of beauty products inspired by the film. Separately, Gelish created 36 film-inspired nail colors with 250k+ bottles available globally and a custom spot featured at Times Square.

–Kellogg’s made a splash at nearly 4K Walmart Stores with exclusive packs of Mermazing Berry, inspired by the film, as well as adding on-pack movie ticket offers to fan favorite cereals.

–Annie’s created a limited-edition line of snacks and pasta products featuring Ariel on-pack and a movie ticket offer on 4.1M+ packs.

–Pandora developed a custom The Little Mermaid collection with a global ad campaign over 80 markets.

–Carol’s Daughter – the first hair care brand to be on exhibit in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture- developed a limited-edition line of products accompanied by a campaign called Let Your Curls Sing with activations at mass and boutique retail, including a Movie Ticket Offer and influencer support.

The campaign for Little Mermaid fired off at D23 last year with Marshall and star Halle Bailey onstage, showing attendees a first look of “Part of Your World” and debuting the teaser trailer.

There was a big music integration that was key to the campaign, spread across theaters, music streamers, Amazon and influencers. There were digital and deluxe versions of the soundtrack in CD and vinyl. Additionally, Target will play custom content with talent and film footage in 1,800+ locations. Spotify had an exclusive playlist takeover; a Disney Hub Placement, TV & Movies Hub placement, and in-app card modal was launched. The film also took over SiriusXM’s Disney Hits channel. In addition, several social media influencers have been singing classic songs from the film.

RelishMix measured The Little Mermaid social awareness stats before the pic’s opening and it stood 36% above family live genre norms across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok at 589.5 million. Comps included Sonic the Hedgehog (577M SMU/$58.1M), Detective Pikachu (569M SMU/$54.4M) and Dumbo (281M SMU/$46M). Disney social media pages and Disney music pumped this up. There was viral reposting with a strong rate of 31:1 off 19 videos on YouTube.

Total ticket sales for all movies over the 4-day is projected to be around $207.5M, which is off 7% from last year’s Memorial Day stretch when Top Gun: Maverick opened to a record high for the holiday of $160.5M.

The chart as of Sunday AM–updating:

1) Little Mermaid (Dis) 4,320 theaters, Fri $38M, Sat $30M Sun 3-day $104M, 4-day $121M-$123M/Wk 1

2) Fast X (Uni) 4,088 (+42) theaters, Fri $6.3M (-78%), Sat $8.5M Sun $8.1M Mon $5.67M 3-day $23M (-66%), 4-day $28.6M, Total $113.6M/Wk 2

3) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (Dis) 3,940 (-510) theaters, Fri $5.4M (-36%) 3-day $20.6M (-36%) 4-day $26.6M, Total $306M/Wk 4

4) The Super Mario Bros Movie (Uni) 3,148 (-392) theaters, Fri $1.69M (-29%) Sat $2.4M Sun $2.1M Mon $2.06M 3-day $6.27M (-35%), 4-day $8.3M, Total $560.6M/Wk 8

5) The Machine (Leg/Sony) 2,409 theaters, Fri $2.2M Sat $1.4M Sun $1.2M Mon $915K 3-day $4.9M, 4-day $5.8M/Wk 1

6) About My Father (LG) 2,464 theaters, Fri $1.46M Sat $1.45M Sun $1.34M Mon $1M 3-day $4.25M 4-day $5.25M/Wk 1

7) Kandahar (OR/Briar) 2,105 theaters, Fri $920K Sat $745K Sun $745K Mon $590K 3-day $2.4M 4-day $3M /Wk 1

8) You Hurt My Feelings (A24) 912 theaters Fri $474K Sat $481K Sun $433K Mon $377K 3-day $1.389M 4-day $1.76M/Wk 1

9) Evil Dead Rise (NL) 921 (-1,252 theaters) Fri $300K (-57%) Sat $385K Sun $367K 3-day $1.05M (-57%) 4-day $1.3M Total $66.4M/Wk 6

10) Book Club: Next Chapter (Foc) 1,339 (-2,174) theaters, Fri $250K (-73%), Sat $320K Sun $330K Mon $270K 3-day $900K (-70%) 4-day $1.17M, Total $16.3M/Wk 3

 

via Deadline