‘Beauty and the Beast’ roars with $170M debut

Disney’s live-action “Beauty’’ was a beast at the box office, opening with an estimated $170 million in North American ticket sales and setting a new high mark for family movies.

“Beauty and the Beast’’ blew past the previous record-holder for G- or PG-rated releases, according to studio estimates Sunday. Last year, Disney’s “Finding Dory’’ debuted with a then-PG-best $135 million.

“Beauty and the Beast’’ felled many other records, too. It’s the year’s top opening so far and a new best for March releases, and it ranks seventh all-time, not accounting for inflation.

The film, made for about $160 million, is the latest effort by Disney to re-create one of its animated classics with live action and digital effects. The makeover of the 1991 Oscarwinning film follows previous live-action remakes such as “Alice in Wonderland,’’ ‘’Cinderella,” ‘’Maleficent” and last year’s ‘’The Jungle Book.” Many more are on the way, too, including those for ‘’Dumbo,” ‘’Mulan,” ‘’Aladdin” and ‘’The Lion King.”

“Nostalgia is a very powerful driver for these films,’’ said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. “What’s exciting here is there is an opportunity to see these beloved stories in a way that’s never been seen before, but you get to build that on the foundation of something that’s very familiar.

“But you don’t get to $170 million because of nostalgia,’’ Hollis added. “You have to ultimately make these movies great.’’

“Beauty and the Beast,’’ directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, found widespread acclaim and some backlash for including what has been called Disney’s first openly gay character. Josh Gad plays Gaston’s sidekick, LeFou, who has a very brief “exclusively gay moment,’’ as Condon described it, late in the film.