Disney banks on success
As I watched Beauty and the Beast in a packed theatre with fans of all ages, one thought recurred: How soon until Disney begins offering a direct-deposit service for our money?
Seven years into its current system of rolling out live-action adaptations of its animated classics, Disney has the machinery in place to crank out these eminently bankable conversions at an accelerated pace.
The latest success story is Beauty and the Beast, which by studio estimates grossed a head-turning $170 million in its U.S.-Canada debut. That’s the seventh-biggest opening when not adjusting for inflation, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Counting its Star Wars and Marvel Studios films, Disney owns six of the seven largest domestic debuts. (All figures in U.S. dollars.) Beauty and the Beast also had the biggest March opening ever, topping last year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million).
Disney kicked off this entire template in 2010 with another live-action adapted film that pointed to the high profitability of March: Alice in Wonderland, which opened to $116.1 million.
Tim Burton’s Alice went on to gross $1.025 billion worldwide. The film’s success prompted Disney to open its cartoon vaults for live-action adaptations and reimaginings, including Maleficent ($759 million worldwide), Cinderella ($544 million worldwide) and last year’s The Jungle Book, with global gross of $967 million and Oscar-winning CGI effects.
Beauty and the Beast — adapted from the 1991 animated classic that boasts Oscar-winning music — has already grossed $350 million worldwide on a $160-million production budget. (When adjusted for inflation, the 1991 animated Beauty grossed $392 million domestically.)
The new Beauty’s gains should only boost Disney’s confidence as it plans adaptations of such animated smashes as Dumbo (now in pre-production with Tim Burton back at the helm), The Lion King (with Jungle Book’s Jon Favreau directing) and Mulan (Niki Caro directing). A new take on Aladdin has been in the pipeline, while Oscar winner Emma Stone is aboard Cruella for a 2018 release.
As long as Disney is minting our childhoods and cashing in on the next generations, too, should we let the studio just go ahead and funnel our money directly?
Be our guest.