Walt Disney Pictures‘ Beauty and the Beast roared to an estimated $63.8 million on Friday, which includes the $16.3 million earned at Thursday previews. The anticipated release will post the largest opening of 2017 so far this weekend, topping Logan‘s $88 million. If things hold, Beauty and the Beast should also set a new March opening record, surpassing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s $166 million. The previous opening record for a PG-rated was Finding Dory with $135 million, a record Beauty and the Beast will easily beat. The film received an A CinemaScore from audiences.
Internationally, Beauty and the Beast earned $40.3 million on Friday to bring its global total to $115.6 million already. Major markets opening internationally yesterday included the UK, China, Spain, and Mexico. The film opened #1 in all four, with China bringing in an estimated $12.6 million, the UK an estimated $6.1 million, and Mexico an estimated $2.4 million.
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Directed by Bill Condon, Beauty and the Beast stars Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as Lefou, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Audra McDonald as Garderobe, and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts.
Beauty and the Beast offers a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic, refashioning the characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience and staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. Beauty and the Beast is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.
Based on the 1991 animated film, Beauty and the Beast is produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman with eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Song) for the 1991 animated film, providing the score, which will include new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as several new songs written by Menken and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice.
