Fans lap up reheats at box office

Take note, Baywatch and Jumanji: This is a prime time for repurposed 90s fare.

Disney’s adaptation of 1991’s Beauty and the Beast grossed a whopping US$88.3 million ($125.4m) in its second weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday in the US. That represents the fourth-biggest second weekend ever, not adjusting for inflation, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Avengers and another 1990s-sprung franchise film, Jurassic World. Meanwhile, the updated Power Rangers from Lionsgate had a solid domestic debut of US$40.5m.

Add that total to Fox’s two Power Rangers films from the 90s, and the franchise has grossed US$132.2m domestically when adjusting for inflation, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Meanwhile, writer-director-star Dax Shepard’s feature-film incarnation of the 1970s and 80s TV series CHiPs did not fare so well. The Warner Bros movie opened to only US$7.6m.

Elsewhere, the 30s-born Kong continues to pull down modern audiences. Warner Bros’ Kong: Skull Island grossed US$14.4m over the weekend in North America and so far has grossed US$392.1m worldwide.

Meanwhile, another furry fighter, Fox’s Logan — who was born on 70s Marvel Comics pages — had a US$10.2m North American weekend and has so far grossed US$565m worldwide.

Both, however, considerably trail Beauty and the Beast, which has a global gross of US$690m after just two weeks, putting it on a potential billion-dollar trajectory.

(A fun fact: In a matter of several weeks, with Beauty and Kong, the world has spent more than a billion dollars to watch hairy beasts who have lost their hearts to human women. Read into that what you will.)