It's believed that Bailey made about $1.5 million for her role as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, but that number could increase depending on how well the film performs opening weekend and beyond.
How much did Halle Bailey make on The Little Mermaid?
How Much Did the Cast of The Little Mermaid Make? According to Showbiz Galore, Halle Bailey received over $1.5 million for portraying Ariel, the iconic red-headed mermaid.
It ended up with a worldwide gross of $569.6 million which was respectable but a far cry from the $1.7 billion haul of Disney's live action Lion King in 2019 and the $1 billion that Aladdin made in the same year.
Halle Bailey was the first to audition for the beloved and coveted role of Ariel in Disney's live-action “The Little Mermaid.” After Bailey belted out the classic showstopper “Part of Your World” from the original 1989 film, director Rob Marshall and the other filmmakers knew that she was the one for the role.
How much does Little Mermaid have to make to break even?
With a $250 million production cost and a reported $140 million marketing cost, The Little Mermaid, under the most generous of projections, needed to gross approximately $560 million at the worldwide box office, according to Hollywood insiders, to reach its break-even threshold.
Disney's Live-Action 'The Little Mermaid' With Massive Box Office Success, Earning $10.3M | THR News
Did The Little Mermaid 2023 flop?
The reported box office result of The Little Mermaid 2023 remake is about $560 million. On paper, these numbers look good. The film grossed over $298 million domestically and more than $263 million internationally.
Disney's live-action “The Little Mermaid” had “no agenda” when it came to the casting of Ariel, director Rob Marshall told Entertainment Weekly. The “Chicago” and “Into the Woods” director said his team auditioned “every ethnicity” for the role before landing on singer Halle Bailey.
Lizzo showcased her audition for The Little Mermaid's Ursula in a since-privated viral video. She didn't get the part, but she "was down to make Ursula a THOT, shaking ass." The role went to Melissa McCarthy, whom Lizzo met during a taping of Adele's "One Night Only" concert.
Why did Halle Bailey audition for The Little Mermaid?
In 2019 her agent told her that, after seeing her perform at the Grammys, director Rob Marshall wanted her to audition. Bailey figured the part was “one of the sisters or something like that,” she tells Glamour exclusively.
“I had done a photoshoot for Disney a few years back where Annie Leibowitz shot me as Ursula,” Queen Latifah told “GMA” in an exclusive interview. “So when this popped up, it was like, OK, a TV production. Alright … Once they explained to me the way that they wanted to do it, I thought it was interesting.”
Did Halle Bailey wear a wig for The Little Mermaid?
According to Variety, Halle Bailey wished to stay true to her Black heritage and show her natural hair in the movie. So, hair extensions were used rather than a wig. Friend said it took 12-14 hours to finish Halle's hair.
Berry appeared in the nu metal band Limp Bizkit's music video for "Behind Blue Eyes" for the motion picture soundtrack for the film. The same year, she was named No. 1 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll. Berry starred as the title role in the film Catwoman, for which she received US$12.5 million.
“But I really did admire the fact that because I'm a Black woman and I have locs, [the producers] wanted to incorporate that into Ariel's look,” she added. To get the look, Halle Bailey worked with hairstylist Camille Friend to dye her roots red and wrap her locks in the same hued hair.
Director Rob Marshall had auditioned the crème de la crème of young Hollywood for the role, and even Zendaya was rumored to have read for the part. But it was movie newcomer Bailey who won the coveted lead.
The actress was especially drawn to the role of Ursula the sea witch. "I loved her so much. She's such a broad, I just wanted to have a drink with her," McCarthy says. "And yes, she's the villain, but I was like, I think I get her.
In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish. As Ariel is half fish, she cannot be categorized by our ethnicities and races.
The film's director Rob Marshall has shared Bailey was the perfect choice due to her “rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence” (via D23) – a sentiment echoed by original Ariel actor Jodi Benson.
The films contributing to the losses include “Lightyear,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Strange World,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Elemental.” The eight films cost roughly $2.75 billion to produce but only brought in $1.86 billion.
It wasn't 'banned' per se, it was recalled. The original artwork contained a phallic-looking spire on a castle in the background. By all accounts, the resemblance was unintentional and NOT a joke slipped in by the artist. In any case, the cover was recalled by Disney and a new one was issued.
The live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid utilized CGI and special effects to create the underwater world and was filmed in Sardinia, Italy, to give it a Caribbean feel. The villages of Santa Teresa di Gallura and Castelsardo in Sardinia were used to film various scenes.
