The Little Mermaid swims to the top of the box office with up to $130 MILLION expected over holiday weekend debut

The Little Mermaid is doing swimmingly its first weekend in theaters.

The Disney live-action film of the animated classic, which spent some $150,000 on star Halle Bailey’s red hair, has quickly recouped those costs and more with a strong box office showing.

Moviegoers have made the highly anticipated musical a part of their world, paying some $38 million for tickets on the film’s opening day Friday.

According to Deadline, the movie was on track to become the third highest ever for the Memorial Day weekend.

Analysts believe the film will pull in some $104 million for the Friday through Sunday numbers and will earn between $120–$130 million for the four-day break.

Swimmingly: The Little Mermaid is doing swimmingly its first weekend in theaters. Moviegoers have made the highly anticipated musical a part of their world, paying some $38 million for tickets on the film’s opening day Friday

Halle Bailey, 23, stars as Ariel, the youngest of daughter of King Triton, played by Javier Bardem, 54, who rules the seas.

She has an unquenchable curiosity to experience life beyond the ocean.

After Ariel rescues a shipwrecked prince (Jonah Hauer-King, 27) she makes a deal with Melissa McCarthy’s devilish sea witch Ursula to experience life as a human.

The only catch is, she has to sacrifice her beautiful singing voice and the only way to recover it is through a true love’s kiss.

According to Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, the romantic adventure is scoring high with audiences across all ages and races.

91-percent of moviegoers reported a positive attitude toward the film and 76-percent said they would definitely recommend it.

The racial breakdown of the audience for the female friendly film is: 35 percent Black, 25 percent Latino and Hispanic, 26 percent Caucasian and 11 percent Asian.

The film and the casting of Halle, who is African American, suffered from virulent racist backlash from people upset that a white animated character had been replaced by a live Black woman.

‘The fact that I get to represent all of these little young Black and brown boys and girls who are to come is really special to me because I know that if I had that when I was younger, it would have changed my whole perspective on life,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter.

On Saturday, Halle, who has been part of a full media press to promote the project celebrated the film’s success, sharing the trailer on her Instagram Stories and writing, ‘Finally at home and resting now, but this is just crazy. Thank you all so much.’

For Halley, it has been a five year journey from her first audition to finally getting the film on the big screen.

Box office: Analysts believe the film will pull in some $104 million for the Friday through Sunday numbers and will earn between $120-$130 million for the four-day break. The film movie was on track to become the third highest ever for the Memorial Day weekend

Audience: 91-percent of moviegoers reported a positive attitude toward the film and 76-percent said they would definitely recommend it. The racial breakdown of the audience for the female friendly film is: 35% Black, 25% Latino and Hispanic, 26% Caucasian and 11% Asian

Backlash: The casting of Halle, who is African American, as the lead resulted in some racist backlash against the film. ‘The fact that I get to represent all of these little young Black and brown boys and girls who are to come is really special to me she told The Hollywood Reporter

Number one:  Halle celebrated the film’s first day at the box office sharing a clip from the trailer which read #1 movie in the world

Fun: Melissa McCarthy who plays Ursula wrote on social media, ‘Ready or not world…here we come! Hope it brings you as much joy and love as we felt making it!!!’

In an interview with Glamor, the African American actress, said she felt she and Ariel were breaking through barriers together.

‘I remember being in the harness in the air and swinging around all day as well as in the tank and the water for hours at a time and I felt like I was truly breaking out of my shell that I had been in for so long.’

Ariel is so passionate about what she wants for herself and her future and I truly felt like she’s telling me “you can do it.”‘

Melissa McCarthy who plays Ursula wrote on social media, ‘Ready or not world…here we come! Hope it brings you as much joy and love as we felt making it!!!’