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"The Little Mermaid" managed to gross approximately $569 million worldwide. While impressive at first glance, a deeper analysis reveals that the studio's share — after theaters take their cut and considering other revenue splits — was closer to $235 million in net theater revenue.
Even with this substantial gross, the costs for production and marketing meant that Disney’s net profit was minimal or negative. The studio likely incurred a pre-tax loss of about £49 million (~$65 million). When factoring in the costs of marketing — which can easily top $125 million — Disney's total expenditure on the project approaches $473 million or more.