"The Little Mermaid" hit the street at the Chinese box office, and this time, it lost completely!
"The Little Mermaid" failed miserably at Chinese mainland box office, and this time it lost completely!
Of course, not only Chinese mainland box office fiasco, but the entire overseas market is miserable, and it is not optimistic and less than expected in the local market. At present, the global box office is just over $200 million, which is destined to be a blood loss compared to the cost of $250 million.
Not only did the box office fail miserably, but word of mouth was also difficult to say.
Douban scored 5.2 points, and Maoyan only scored 7.7 points.
How can such a bad reputation support a higher box office.
And Douban opened a 9.0 point "Spider-Man: Across the Universe", the mainland won more than 25 million box office on the first day, while "The Little Mermaid" has not touched 25 million after a week of release.
That's the gap!
Such a dismal box office seems to have been doomed for a long time.
When the controversy of the election is everywhere, you should think of it, but in addition to the failure of casting, from the plot to the main expression, it can be said that they are so out of place.
Disney princess story works, as a major category, have gone through three stages of development.
The first stage, represented by "Snow White", "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty" and so on. At this stage, the whole story is basically the prince saving the princess, and the princess at this time represents the traditional patriarchal society's definition of women, beautiful, pitiful, virtuous and obedient, waiting for male salvation.
The second stage, represented by "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and so on. At this stage, although the main body of the story is still the love story of the prince and the princess, the princess at this time has a certain feminine consciousness, autonomy, independence and strength, which is obviously an improvement.
The third stage is represented by "Rapunzel", "Brave Legend", "Frozen" and so on. At this stage, it is obvious that it has begun to get rid of the traditional "prince falls in love with the princess" story, but highlights the female spirit and strength, expresses women's self-awareness, self-identity and self-pursuit, and is no longer trapped by men, and even men have become villains and marginal forces.
And now this live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" is undoubtedly back in the past, which inevitably makes people feel a little disappointed and regretful. Although this live-action movie has made some upgrades and revisions to the animation, the breakthrough is not big, and the base and core have not changed much. In the end, for the current audience, it seems even a little simple and naïve, more suitable for young children than adults.
Of course, it is an adaptation of the 1989 animated film "The Little Mermaid", not Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "Daughter of the Sea". Even if the animated version is adapted from "Daughter of the Sea", it is already very different from the original.
"Daughter of the Sea" was originally a tragedy and a poignant love story, but it doesn't stop there, but there is also the Little Mermaid's belief and pursuit of the "immortal soul". Far more profound than later adaptations, with significance and value.
Although the animated version has been commercialized and successfully adapted to suit the market, it is still far from the original. Now in the live-action version, it is just a reproduction of the animation, but it is not as delicate and vivid as the animation, and it even looks a little rough.
From the perspective of the entire visual effects alone, it seems a little cheap, and the picture is dark and dull, which greatly affects the look and feel. As an advantage, the song and dance, in the live-action film, it is a little abrupt, although the voice is amazing, but the actor is not so comfortable, and it is blunt and embarrassing.
In addition, the live-action version throws out the proposition of peaceful coexistence and coexistence between different worlds and different races, but it is sloppy and perfunctory. In the narration of this proposition, it is embodied in the rebellion and resistance of the protagonist, and the integration of the culture behind it is not further explored, everything is just to the point, so that the expression of this proposition is superficial and not profound.
From the perspective of the entire narrative, the foreshadowing of the Little Mermaid in front is relatively lengthy, and the love story with the prince after that is urgent and brief, and the final showdown is quite perfunctory, and the end is a hasty reunion, seemingly ups and downs, ideal and complete, but in fact dull and boring.
Whether it is the Little Mermaid or the Prince, they are both exploratory at the beginning, full of curiosity about the unknown world, but also rebellious, and rebellious parents, so it is like a family education film, which is extremely friendly to children and parents. However, in addition to such an identity, as an ordinary adult, he will naturally think that the film is a little naïve and not so mature, and naturally will not pay for it.
Times have long changed, and the audience has matured, and the aesthetic has also upgraded.
This is why the third phase of the Frozen series has been a great success, because it keeps up with the times and caters to the aesthetic needs of the audience in the new era. Then for today's live-action version of "The Little Mermaid", it is undoubtedly self-defeating, and it is ultimately a failure.
Perhaps the biggest improvement is in casting, for the sake of "political correctness", he did not hesitate to blind himself, and in the end, just because of singing, of course, there are acting considerations, so as to choose today's black actor Hailey Bailey. However, in the feature film, the advantages of these aspects have not been brought into play, but appearance has become the biggest problem, which is out of place. The seven daughters of the old sea king are indeed racially diverse, but no matter from which aspect, this "little mermaid" will not become the one that the old sea king spoils, let alone be loved by the prince. There is no sense of CP with the prince, not like a prince and a princess, but a prince and a maid.
The audience is a question mark, why the old sea king is so doting, why the prince does not give up his soul.
Even the villain supporting characters are completely oppressive!
This is the most intuitive feeling of the audience, which is visible to the naked eye.
For casting, Disney has made great concessions and efforts, in order to be correct, for equal rights, but the biggest effort has become a failure, and the place where it should be worked is quite conservative, and the audience sees that it is not enterprising, standing still. It underestimates the audience and overestimates itself.
In the face of a high investment of $250 million, Disney is doomed to lose blood this time!
The fiasco of the live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" taught Disney a good lesson!