US Memorial Day Weekend Box Office Ranks 5th All-Time
Despite 'Rating Terror'... Actual Audience Reviews Are Positive
Disney's live-action film 'The Little Mermaid,' starring a Black actor, has earned 250 billion won in revenue during its opening week despite being plagued by 'review bombing.'
According to CNN and other foreign media on the 29th (local time), 'The Little Mermaid' recorded ticket sales of $117.5 million (about 156 billion won) in the United States since its release on the 26th, and earned $185.8 million (about 246 billion won) worldwide.
It ranked fifth all-time for box office records during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the last Monday of May in the U.S.
Based on Andersen's fairy tale and structured around the 1989 animated film, this work tells the story of Ariel, the youngest of seven princesses of the sea kingdom, who falls in love with Prince Eric, a human.
Prior to its release, the film sparked controversy over 'political correctness' (PC) as Disney cast Halle Bailey, a Black singer and actress, as Ariel for the first time, leading to accusations of 'black washing.'
Black washing is a term derived from 'white washing,' a practice in Hollywood and Western mainstream cinema of exclusively casting white actors. It sarcastically refers to the trend of forcibly including Black and other people of color in works under the guise of pursuing racial diversity.
Abnormal 'Review Bombing' Detected... Actual Moviegoers Say "It's Fun"
The film suffered from 'review bombing' even before its release.
According to IMDb's country-specific audience ratings, the film received low scores including 6.3 out of 10 in the U.S., 5.9 in the UK, 5.8 in Brazil, 5.7 in Canada, and 6.3 in Mexico.
IMDb posted a warning on the film's rating page stating, "Our score calculation mechanism has detected abnormal rating activity for this film," and "An alternative weighted calculation method has been applied to maintain the reliability of the rating system." However, the specific calculation method was not disclosed.
One media outlet reported that excessively negative rating activity was also observed on the French film site 'AlloCine.'
The outlet also introduced negative reactions from Korea, reporting that many viewers gave 1 point out of 10 on Naver's rating page along with harsh comments such as "I just can't immerse myself."
Naver's overall audience rating rose from 1.96 on the opening day to about 6.60 currently.
On the other hand, on the American movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes, the verified audience score from people who actually purchased tickets for 'The Little Mermaid' was high at 95%.
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