Halle Bailey’s live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid has made a box office splash with $95.5 million opening in the US. The Rob Marshall-directed movie, however, has been in controversies following the release of the trailer. Upon its release, the movie received mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike.
Following the release of the trailer, the makers of the movie were accused of being racist over choosing a black princess for the film. Of course, it was not one-sided, a debate stirred right after while others are hailing the historic move by the studio.
The Review Bomb on The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is doing seemingly fine at the box office. As per Deadline, the estimated projection of the movie opening goes up to an estimated $163.8 million at the global box office which was made with a budget of $250 million. However, the reviews for the film did not go alongside the staggering box office collection.
Of course, the movie has stirred much debate online, from facing the accusation of racist slur to the makeup artist’s transformation of Melissa McCarthy into Ursula in the movie. The later criticism was directly aimed at the makeup artist claiming that the job should have gone to a queer artist.
Amidst all these controversies, the overseas reactions are quite amusing and are speculated to be led by internet trolls. Further, some critics didn’t like the movie at all, giving just one star while IMDB had to issue a warning label on the U.S. Canadian, UK, Brazil, and Mexican sites.
“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied,” the warning read.
The negative voting activity of the Halle Bailey movie has been a concern for the maker and those who are involved in the film. Reportedly Bailey has been campaigning for the sequel of the movie.
The Little Mermaid Are Expecting a Sequel
The stars of The Little Mermaid Bailey who plays the Disney princess Ariel and Eric actor Jonah Hauer-King recently talked to Narcity about repairing their role in the subsequent movies. Of course, the animated version has three movies to the franchise making the live-action musical film possible franchise future.
Narcity asked the actors, “What are the chances we see you both in a sequel?” to which the singer and actor, Bailey reacted by saying “Ohh…” Hauer-King said, “In the second one, I think, do they become…what happens there?” Bailey seems to have interest in the sequel recalling the animated The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea where the original story is further explored.
“In the second one, they have a girl, a baby girl, and she wants to go into the water, it’s like a reverse thing. I love that movie,” Bailey said.
Further, Hauer-King revealed his interest in Prince Eric being a merman in the sequel.
“I would be up for doing it. I kinda would like to also be a merman, so we can also somehow evolve that storyline with her,” Hauer-King said.
As the box office numbers are climbing the ladder, the studio could greenlight the sequel. Many hailed Bailey’s performance as Ariel and there is enough material for the movie to expand into a live-action franchise.
The Little Mermaid was released on 26 May 2023 and currently running in theaters worldwide.
Source: The Direct.
