Ariel is making waves.
The first full trailer promoting The Little Mermaid generated more than 108 million global views in its first 24 hours, making it one of the most watched trailers for any title in Disney’s growing stable of live-action reimaginings, and the biggest for a Disney live-action title since The Lion King in early 2019, according to the studio. The number of views is inclusive of the broadcast TV audience and digital.
The Little Mermaid trailer dropped March 12 during the Academy Awards ceremony, where stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy introduced the spot. Bailey plays Ariel in live-action update of the 1989 animated classic, while McCarthy stars as the villainous Ursula.
The Lion King‘s first full trailer garnered roughly 130 million views in spring 2019. Otherwise, The Little Mermaid trailer surpassed the first full spot for Aladdin, which which was viewed 106.5 million times. Mermaid also surpassed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Mulan (2020) and Cruella (2021).
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Directed by Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid opens in theaters over Memorial Day. Oscar-winner Alan Menken returns to update his score and pen a new song featuring lyrics from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The movie will also include four new songs original to the remake.
Javier Bardem, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay and Jonah Hauer-King co-star in the film, which tells the tale of a mermaid who longs to join the human world. Bailey, known as half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, was cast in July 2019, with the film marking her biggest role to date after work including a part on Grown-ish. She will also be seen in the upcoming The Color Purple musical.
Over the past decade, Disney has found success with live-action remakes of its animated classics, with Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin and The Lion King among those clearing $1 billion globally. Its upcoming remakes include Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler and due out in March of 2024. Others in the works include Lilo & Stitch, as well as a Lion King prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, from director Barry Jenkins.
Immediately following its in-show debut at the Oscars, The Little Mermaid was Twitter’s No. 2 trend, where it remained for most of the night. The trailer also climbed to YouTube’s No. 1 Globally Trending video.
Disney unveiled a The Little Mermaid teaser trailer last year at D23.
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