Here's When You Can Watch The Little Mermaid At Home

Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid" churned up the box office when it was released in May 2023. Audiences and critics had a fairly positive reaction to the movie and it seems poised to exit theaters with over $529 million in worldwide receipts. This haul makes "The Little Mermaid" the fifth most popular theatrical release of 2023 as of press time.

If you decided not to join the masses at the movies and waited to watch Ariel's adventures, or just hope to relieve her trip to the surface once more, then we have good news for you. Collider reports that the film will be released for digital purchase and rental on July 25. 

Those hoping for the movie to show up under the Disney+ sea are going to have an even longer wait. For them, "The Little Mermaid" isn't likely to hit the streamer until late August if it matches the typical release window used by previous Disney theatrical movies. And fans of practical releases will be stuck with an even longer wait, with "The Little Mermaid" hitting DVD, 4K Ultra HD and Blu-Ray on September 19. Fortunately, there will be extras attached to those physical releases to make that long wait more worthwhile.

There will be at least two extras included with the practical release of "The Little Mermaid." The first will be a sing-along feature that shows the lyrics of every song in the film on the screen in concert with its music. The second is an extensive, five-part documentary called "Hotter Under the Water." The latter featurette traces director Rob Marshall through the process of turning Ariel's animated adventures into live-action ones.

Disney's "The Little Mermaid" follows the life of Ariel (Halle Bailey), a mermaid princess who strikes a fearful bargain with the vengeful sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) and who risks everything to experience life in the human world. Ursula offers Ariel a "fair" trade — the princess will have three days on the surface as a human, during which she must secure the true love of her crush, Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer King), a human royal whom she previously saved from a shipwreck. Ariel must convince Eric to kiss her in that short span of time. Otherwise, she will be forced to return to the ocean and her soul and voice will belong to Ursula forever. How can she convince Eric to adore her without the power of speech? Fortunately, she has her friends Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), Scuttle (Awkwafina), and Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) to help her figure it out. 

And soon, fans of the film can watch Ariel's good heart and spirit of adventure win over Eric as many times as they wish.