Beauty And The Beast roars with monstrous B12bn box-office debut
Disney’s live-action Beauty was a beast at the US box office, opening with an estimated US$170 million (12.1 billion baht) in North American and $180 million in global ticket sales, 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 on Sunday. Last year, Disney’s Finding Dory debuted with a thenPG-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 Oscar-winning 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. 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.
Though many applauded the character’s subtle twist as overdue progress, some derided it. An Alabama drive-in cinema cancelled showings before owners screened the film. And after Malaysian censors required an edit of the scene, Disney pulled the film from release in the predominantly Muslim nation.
None of that dragged down the movie’s massive opening. It took in $180 million overseas, including $44.8 million in China, Disney said.
Beauty And The Beast, featuring the songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, also got a boost from good word-of-mouth and largely good reviews.
Other studios stayed clear of the Disney juggernaut. Last week’s top film, Warner Bros.’ Kong: Skull Island, slid to second place with $28.9 million in its second week. The King Kong relaunch has thus far earned $110.1 million in the US.
Fox’s R-rated X-Men spin-off Logan, starring Hugh Jackman, added $17.5 million in its third week to bring its total to $184 million. With Logan in third place, the horror sensation Get Out slid to fourth and continued to drive audiences. The Jordan Peele directorial debut, from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, earned $13.3 million, making its four-week total $133.1 million.
The only film that tried to open nationwide against Beauty And The Beast was the microbudget horror release The Belko Experiment, from Blumhouse Pictures. It earned $4.1 million in 1,341 cinemas (or about a third the cinemas Beauty played in).
Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting sequel, T2: Trainspotting, from Sony Pictures debuted in five cinemas in New York and Los Angeles, earning $180,000 for a strong per-theatre average of $36,000. The sequel to the much-loved 1996 original, which later expands nationwide, has already made more than $20 million in the UK. Estimated ticket sales for Friday to Sunday at US and Canadian cinemas, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers also are included.
1. Beauty And The Beast, $170 million ($180 million international). 2. Kong: Skull Island, $28.9 million ($38.5 million international). 3. Logan, $17.5 million ($31.5 million international).
4. Get Out, $13.3 million ($2.9 million international).
5. The Shack, $6.1 million.
6. The Lego Batman Movie, $4.7 million ($2.4 million international). 7. The Belko Experiment, $4.1 million.
8. Hidden Figures, $1.5 million ($3.5 million international).
9. John Wick: Chapter 2, $1.2 million ($2.1 million international). 10. Before I Fall, $1 million.