Culture
20 Mar 17

Beauty & the Beast breaks box office records for family movies

<i>Beauty & the Beast</i> breaks box office records for family movies

The live-action remake of the fairy-tale grossed about $170 million on its opening weekend.

From the time Disney first announced the remake of Beauty & the Beast, over the first posters and trailers up to the moment when the movie finally came to the big screens, audiences were expecting a lot from Disney, looking back to the 1991 animated movie with nostalgia. And obviously, Disney didn’t fail to impress. Beauty & the Beast had one of the most successful opening weekends of all time.

The live-action remake, directed by Bill Condon, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, grossed about $170 million on the global box office only this weekend, which makes it the seventh most successful opening weekend of all time.

With those earnings, it also tops Emma Watson’s personal record of about $169 million for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. At the moment the ranking is dominated by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Marvel’s The Avengers.

Beauty & the Beast also surpassed every other family movie and holds the record for the most successful PG-rated movie and musical.

The latest remake follows the story of the bookworm Belle, played by Emma Watson, who, after growing up in a small French village, helps a troubled Beast to break the spell he is under.

While the movie plot stays close to the 1991 original, including song classics such as “Belle” or “Be Our Guest”, Bill Condon fleshes out a bit more of Belle’s back story, with Emma Watson supporting the character of the strong, feminist heroine.

The Harry Potter-actress previously turned down to play the role of Cinderella, stating that the fairy-tale’s title character was not a suitably empowered role model for young women, while she felt that the character of Belle “resonated” with her much more.

Beauty & the Beast represents another movie in Disney’s branded strategy to adapt old fairy-tales for a live-action remake. Others in the group include Alice in Wonderland or last year’s The Jungle Book. And more are to follow: Remakes of Dumbo, Mulan and The Lion King are already in the works.