It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why so many grown adults were up in arms over the live-action remake of a classic animated fairytale, but the backlash and negativity towards The Little Mermaid caused a storm in a teacup nonetheless.
Everyone knew that the underwater blockbuster was going to become the target of a review-bombing campaign, and while it technically did, it’s one that failed miserably. Rob Marshall’s latest feature currently holds a sky-high 95 percent audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while IMDb stepped in to put an end to any attempts to bring down its average user score.
Of course, money talks loudest at the end of the day, and The Little Mermaid has racked up plenty of that too after debuting to an estimated $121 million across the four-day Memorial Day weekend. That takes it past Aladdin, Maleficent, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Cruella to nab the highest-grossing first frame across the holiday for a live-action do-over, so it’s even set a record into the bargain.
If anyone needed any more proof that trolls and review-bombers don’t go outside, then it doesn’t get any more ironclad than this. People can sit at home and trash the movie all they want, but it’s right there in the numbers that a great deal more people are ready, willing, able, and happy to shell out for a ticket and catch it as soon as possible on the big screen.
There were even some predicting The Little Mermaid would be in trouble of becoming Disney’s latest high-profile commercial disappointment, but it’s safe to say the Mouse House is staring another certified smash hit square in the face.
