Box office records broken

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has broken box office records after taking in £18.4million over its opening weekend.

The huge haul means the live-action version of the animated classic, which stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the beast, is the fifthhighest grossing three-day opening of all time and the highest grossing three- day opening weekend for a PG movie.

The Saturday box office of £7.9million was the second highest grossing Saturday ever, only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In the UK and Ireland it also delivered the biggest Disney live-action opening of all time, the biggestMarch opening weekend of all time and the number one opening of 2017 to date.

Beauty and the Beast now also has the biggest opening ever for a musical in the UK.