‘The Little Mermaid’ makes a big splash at the box office

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Caribbean Slavery, and Telling the Truth to Children,” Ryder points out that the movie appears to take place in the Caribbean in the 18th century during a time of African chattel slavery — yet the islanders depicted in the film seem to live in a world free of this inhumanity.“In this setting, I do not think we do our children any favors by pretending that slavery didn’t exist,” he wrote. “For me Disney’s preference to try and wish the inconvenient truth away says more about the adult creatives than it does about children’s ability to work through it.”Though he acknowledged that the movie is a fantasy and doesn’t necessarily need to be historically accurate, he said that Disney shouldn’t be “encouraging historical amnesia.”“But the total erasure and rewriting of one of the most painful and important parts of African diasporic history, is borderline dangerous, especially when it is consumed unquestioningly by children,” he added.Ryder proposed that Disney could have instead set the live-action film in Haiti after slavery was overthrown, with Ariel meeting Prince Eric in the wake of real racial harmony and not sacrificing historical accuracy.“We owe it to our children to give them the most amazing fantastical stories possible to help their imaginations grow,” Ryder said.

If you’ve not headed to your nearest cinema to catch The Little Mermaid yet, make sure you’re prepared with enough tissues to see you through. Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1989 animated film was released last Friday, and even though it’s only been out for a week, it's already amassed more than $209 million at the box office and is currently sitting at the top spot as the number one movie in the world. Starring Halle Bailey as Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, the film retells the classic fairytale of a mermaid who wants to know what life is like above the sea.

Although mermaids might conjure up images of long, flowing, low-maintenance waves, it seems the actual cost of turning actress Halle Bailey into one was a little more on the expensive side. For the actress’ appearance as Ariel in Disney’s hit live action remake of The Little Mermaid, hairstylist Camille Friend revealed the true cost of getting those mermaid-worthy waves, and you could buy a house for the price.

has changed its rating system for the newly-released live-action “Little Mermaid” amid “unusual voting activity.”The Halle Bailey-led film has a 7/10 rating on the site. But a few crabby users — also known as review bombers — are allegedly giving the Disney flick negative scores for no good reason.“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.

professional mermaid.Bailey first rose to fame and internet acclaim as half of Chloe X Halle, the singing group she formed in her parent’s living room with older sister Chloë. The self-taught duo’s staggering renditions of Beyoncé classics like “Best Thing I Never Had,” garnered the attention of Queen Bey herself who eventually signed the sisters to her Parkwood Entertainment record label.

Devoted fans of the original The Little Mermaid film have eagerly awaited the highly anticipated live adaptation featuring Halle Bailey. As this beloved movie is reimagined for a contemporary audience, fresh discussions and debates have emerged surrounding the original storyline. Among these discussions, an intriguing theory has captivated fans, hinting at a dark and tragic subplot for one of the characters.

Unless you’ve been living under a pop culture rock for the last couple of months, you’ll know that Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1989 classic, The Little Mermaid has just dropped in cinemas. Everywhere. Starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, there was no holding back on any aspect of this film.

had a multiverse long before they acquired Marvel: An unofficial House of Mouse detective sent shockwaves through Disney fandom after floating a rather dark fan theory that links the 1989 animated “Little Mermaid” with 1953’s “Peter Pan,” as seen in a TikTok clip with 6.6 million views.“I can’t believe I just noticed this In The Little Mermaid,” self-proclaimed “movie detective” Ivan Mars exclaimed in the caption to the vid. He frequently posts film-based conspiracy theories to his 2 million TikTok followers like some sort of cinematic “Da Vinci Code” — although users point out that many of his theories originated on Reddit.The latest target for Mars’ cinematic tinfoil hat was the animated “Little Mermaid,” a film that’s been revived in the public conscious with the release of the divisive, live-action adaptation starring Halle Bailey, 23, which took home $48.3 million on its opening night Friday.He specifically posited that Ariel’s mother Athena — who was killed by pirates, per the 2008 sequel “the Little Mermaid III” — was also in “Peter Pan.” Accompanying footage shows a scene from the 1953 classic, in which Pan cavorts with a red-headed dead ringer for Ariel in the Mermaid Lagoon, which coincidentally shares a name with the place where Athena was attacked in the aforementioned sequel.Due to the 36-year gap between “The Little Mermaid” and “Peter Pan,” fans have speculated that a young Athena would’ve probably looked a lot like her daughter at the time, according to Reddit.And given her demise at the hands of pirates, fans suspected that Pan baddie Captain Hook may been to blame.

The Little Mermaid 's live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic has once again faced criticism, this time for its makeup choices. Disney received backlash when a timelapse video showcasing Ursula's makeup was shared, drawing negative comments from drag queens.The clip, posted on Twitter last week, sparked a debate among drag performers who argued that Melissa McCarthy's makeup should have been done by an LGBTQ+ artist.

practicing to be a mermaid since she was a kid) or belting the ballad “Part of Your World.” Instead, she lists her castmates’ musical numbers: “Jonah [Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric, his] song is wonderful — ‘Wild Uncharted Waters’ — his performance of that is iconic. And then ‘The Scuttlebutt’ is amazing.

Paloma Faith has hit out at the new live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, saying that it’s not what she wants to be teaching the next generation of women.Disney’s The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey came out Friday (May 26), and also stars Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder.Faith was among stars who attended one of the film’s opening weekend screenings, but took to social media to voice her issues with the remake.“Just seen the new Little Mermaid with my kids and while I think Halle gives a good performance and it’s great casting as a mother of girls, I don’t want my kids to think it’s ok to give up your entire voice and your powers to love man,” the ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ singer wrote on her Instagram story over the weekend (via Metro).She added: “Wtf is this shit?! Not what I want to be teaching next gen women at all.”Earlier this year, Bailey explained how she wanted to bring a more nuanced and modern perspective to the film, in which Ariel is willing to give her up life in the sea to marry a prince and live on the land.“I’m really excited for my version of the film because we’ve definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy,” she told Edition Magazine.“It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants.”“As women we are amazing, we are independent, we are modern, we are everything and above,” she continued.

Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian.In a roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said that he used to perform under the armour towards the beginning of the series. However, for the show’s most recent seasons, he only provided the voice for Din Djarin, with stuntment and body doubles appearing as the bounty hunter on set.“There was an extended amount of experimentation, being in the suit for a lot of it, and frankly, my body wasn’t up for the task as far as, like, the four months of it,” Pascal shared.“But I was in it.

 gives audiences a mix of their favorite classics with modern tweaks, including three new songs and several updates to the soundtrack's iconic tunes.The music reflects the film's refreshed story, which director Rob Marshall, producer John DeLuca, and screenwriter David Magee have explained they tweaked to implement specific changes showcasing a more modern Disney princess, addressing criticism that the original film featured a young woman who was too wrapped up in a man, and giving Ariel more agency.The soundtrack features the vocal talents of the film's new cast, including GRAMMY-nominated singer Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Lin-Manuel Miranda, who teamed up with legendary composer-songwriter Alan Menken to write the film's new songs, previously told ET that «getting to write music for these characters that are probably the reason I started writing musicals in the first place, was actually easier than I thought.»«But the hardest part was my own intimidation working with Alan Menken, and that was entirely self-imposed,» acknowledged Miranda, who also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Marc Platt. «But when it came to how these characters speak and what they say, I've known that all my life.

American Idol led to “the downfall of society”.The View presenter got into an awkward exchange with an off-camera producer on Wednesday (May 24) while discussing Netflix‘s new documentary about the final days of Anna Nicole Smith’s life.After speaking to her co-hosts about the documentary, Goldberg concluded that “people like to be judgy,” before suggesting that American Idol was responsible for that kind of television.“You have Basketball Wives, you have the Housewives of whatever, all the Bravo shows, giving you the impression that you’re doing something wrong because you’re living your life,” said Goldberg (via Page Six).“People watch these shows because they make them feel better,” she continued. “I think that we, as a society, love to watch stuff to judge folks.”The Sister Act star then revealed the exact point she believes audiences became too quick to pass judgement.“You know, I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with, um, what’s the name of that show I always tell you that?” she asked, turning to executive producer Brian Teta.Goldberg had evidently shared the opinion with Teta before, because the off-camera producer replied: “ABC’s American Idol?”The studio audience laughed as the producer attempted to remind Goldberg that American Idol airs on the Disney-owned ABC, the same network that pays her salary.“Well, it wasn’t always on ABC,” Goldberg hit back in defence.

is giving viewers the classic fairytale with several modern-day tweaks. The Rob Marshall-directed musical stars Halle Bailey as the titular, headstrong princess, a drastic departure from her previous depiction that initially garnered racist backlash.But Bailey's casting is only one of the changes made to the new live-action adaptation, which also stars Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Here are 15 ways the remake differs from the original.

Bert Kreischer put on a show while walking the red carpet at the premiere of his movie The Machine on Thursday night (May 25) in Los Angeles.

The Machine is loud, gross, obnoxious and overbearing. It’s also disarming, quick-witted, fast moving and becomes increasingly funny as it ends up in, of all places, Russia for its payoff scenes.

The Machine,” Bert Kreischer was lying in a hotel bed in Serbia trying to fall asleep to a Joe Rogan podcast. Instead of providing an ambient touch, the episode became a rallying cry for the shirt-averse comedian.

Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin and was the father of Spike Lee, has died aged 94.The musician died at his Brooklyn home yesterday (May 24), according to a publicist for Spike Lee, confirmed to The New York Times.

told the Hollywood Reporter. “[The daddy thing] seems a little role-related. There was a period where the Mandalorian is very daddy to baby Grogu, and Joel is very daddy to Ellie [in ‘The Last of Us’].”Pascal, 48, has experienced a meteoric rise recently. Although he initially rose to fame in 2014 playing the ill-fated swaggering bisexual prince Oberyn on “Game of Thrones” during the show’s fourth season, his spotlight has increased more recently.

 features a few tweaks to the story's iconic story and music, but a familiar voice vows that the changes are not only necessary but «beautifully» done.Jodi Benson, the voice actress who provided the voice of Ariel in the 1989 animated film, shared her support for the film's changes during an interview with , pointing out how different the world was when the original movie began recording sessions in 1986. «It's 2023, so we have to grow, we have to learn, we have to be aware of our surroundings,» she says. «We've got to be aware of our growth as humans and what's important now and what maybe isn't as important. Things change.