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Credit: DisneyDisney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid (1989) is officially thriving at one Asian country’s box office, despite racist backlash across the continent.
As with any live-action remake, The Little Mermaid (2023) was always going to cause controversy. Fans are always attached to the original version of any film – especially when it’s a beloved Walt Disney Animation. However, more critics latched on to this remake thanks to its casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel, with a very specific demographic accusing the Walt Disney Company of warping history by replacing a white, red-headed character with a Black actress.
Fortunately, this conversation had very little impact on the film’s performance in the United States. To date, The Little Mermaid has made $257,984,611 at the domestic box office – including an incredible four-day domestic debut of $118.6 million, making it the fifth-biggest Memorial Day Weekend opening of all time.
Like the original, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a mermaid named Ariel (Bailey) who becomes enamored with the human world and decides to barter with the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to experiment with life on the surface and finally meet her true love, Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).
Related: ‘The Little Mermaid’ Remake Officially Beats the Original
It’s a tale that’s connected with audiences for over 40 years – and, if the global box office is anything to go by, continues to connect with some audiences in spite of widespread backlash.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Little Mermaid is officially the biggest box office hit of the year in the Philippines. So far, it’s made earned $5.8 million and overtaken two of Hollywood’s other biggest hits of the year: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023).
Beyond the Philippines, responses to The Little Mermaid have been far less positive across Asia. In China and South Korea, The Little Mermaid has underperformed following racist backlash on social media directed at the casting of Bailey as Ariel. In China, it’s made just $3.6 million, compared to The Jungle Book (2016) and The Lion King (2019), which made $150 million and $120 million, respectively.
According to John Hsu, Disney’s Managing Director & Senior Vice President in Asia Pacific, Bailey’s performance has been widely embraced by Filipino audiences. “They really loved Halle Bailey’s performance as Ariel, and they really liked her as the new princess,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s rare, but it’s the biggest territory for The Little Mermaid in Southeast Asia by far, our third highest-grossing market in Asia-Pacific behind Australia and Japan, and our 11th highest-grossing territory globally.”
That’s good news for Disney – and great news for the push for greater diversity in future projects. Now we’re just hoping the film is successful enough to announce a live-action The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)… We can dream.
Have you seen The Little Mermaid yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!