Walt Disney Pictures‘ Beauty and the Beast just broke the March box office record with a $174.8 million dollar opening, and will cross the $400 million global box office threshold today on its way to undoubtedly join the billion dollar club. With these kinds of numbers, you would think the folks at Disney would already be talking about a Beast sequel, but according to a new Deadline interview with president of production Sean Bailey, that’s not in the cards.
However, the article does state that they are willing to explore “possible spinoff and prequel scenarios,” according to Bailey. It also mentions that the current strategy is nostalgia-centric, meaning they are not looking to exploit any previous Disney property past the turn of the millennium in 2000 or from Pixar. That means everything from Fantasia to The Black Cauldron through Mulan (the latter currently in pre-production) is a possibility to get the live-action treatment. The studio is wary of rushing out sequels after the dismal failure of last year’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which also factored into director Jon Favreau’s decision to (at least for now) ditch a Jungle Book sequel in favor of a live-action Lion King. They are, however, still pursuing Angelina Jolie for a Maleficent sequel, and are in production on Mary Poppins Returns (which is more of a reboot). As long as they can pilfer from their nearly 80 years of feature animation, there is plenty of brand-recognition to go around before a Beauty and the Beast sequel is necessary.
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.
Are you sad there won’t be a proper Beauty and the Beast sequel? Would you be interested in a prequel or a spin-off? Let us know in the comments below!
