由 Ben Fritz

January 14, 2013, 12:45 p.m.

Following weak box office performances for re-releases of "Monsters, Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "Beauty and the Beast" in 3-D, Walt 迪士尼 Studios has canceled plans for a 3-D "The Little Mermaid" in September.

The underwater animated hit from 1989 was the fourth and final 3-D re-release for which 迪士尼 announced plans in late 2011 after "The Lion King" proved a surprise hit in the format, grossing nearly $100 million in the U.S. and Canada.

But "The Lion King" turned out to be an anomaly, as the three follow-ups grossed far less. "Beauty and the Beast" took in $47.6 million last January, "Finding Nemo" $40.7 million in September, and "Monsters, Inc." only $30.5 million since its Dec. 19 release.

Though 3-D conversions cost only a few million dollars each, those weak box office performances are not enough for 迪士尼 to justify the marketing expense of a nationwide release.

迪士尼 had already begun work on the 3-D conversion of "The Little Mermaid" in November, the studio's 动画片 chief creative officer, John Lasseter, 说 in an interview at the time.

迪士尼 also announced release plans for several other 电影院 Monday.

A fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie will arrive in theaters on July 10, 2015. The studio has yet to 确认 a director 或者 which cast members will return, though it is difficult to imagine a "Pirates" movie without 星, 星级 Johnny Depp.

"The Muppets 2" will come out March 21, 2014.

"1952," a science-fiction film to be directed 由 "The Incredibles" and "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" helmer Brad Bird, is set to hit theaters on Dec. 19, 2014, in 3-D.

"Maleficent," which stars Angelina Jolie as the villain in a live action spin-off from the animated classic "Sleeping Beauty," has been delayed from March 14, 2014, to July 2 of that year. The new 日期 is five days after the fourth "Transformers" movie, setting up a battle of big-budget tentpoles over the July 4 holiday.

The dating of the new 电影院 helps to fill out Disney's 2014 and 2015 schedule that was previously light on tentpoles from the studio's internal production unit -- though 电影院 from Marvel Studios and its 动画片 houses were already set for release.