If you've been paying attention to the latest box office numbers, you should know by now that Disney's live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is absolutely killing it. Its first night in theaters saw it beat early predictions by making $16.3 million in Thursday night screenings, domestically. Now, Friday's numbers, including those from offshore theaters, are in, and it looks like the blockbuster could come away with a lot more money than originally anticipated.
Domestically, Beauty and the Beast, pulled in over $173 million in ticket sales when its Thursday and Friday numbers are totaled. Friday saw the film open in key locations such as China, the U.K., Spain and Mexico, with the movie now in 43 markets around the world. According to Deadline, the latest numbers have the international totals for the film at $115.6 million, which means that Beauty and the Beast is easily on track to make over $300 million once all is said and done after this weekend.
A few days ago, the worldwide box office estimate for Beauty and the Beast was hovering around $200 million, which was already a pretty amazing number. But, now, with it looking like the film could come away with $100 million more after the weekend is over, the movie is really starting to take flight when it comes to setting records. The movie is already very close to making $200 million in the U.S. alone this weekend, and that would put it in a rarified club with only three other films that have hit that number over opening weekend: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and The Avengers.
Obviously, its not a surprise that a Disney film would make such waves on opening weekend. The studio has pretty much always been a powerhouse, especially with their retelling of classic fairy tales. The past few years have seen the studio mine their classic animated fare for live action versions of some well-loved stories like Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book. That most recent film has made the most to date of their live action fairy tale stories, with over $966 million in total box office receipts, and that's with The Jungle Book "only" making $103 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. Thinking about the fact that Beauty and the Beast is close to doubling that when the weekend isn't even over yet, and it's pretty easy to see that the total take for the movie during its theatrical run could be astronomical.
Well, as we've noted, there are still two days left in this weekend, so we'll have to wait and see what's in store for Beauty and the Beast once Monday rolls around. Even if the movie doesn't end up breaking any more records, it's pretty clear that Disney has a solid hit on its hands, and the studio should be pretty damn pumped about that.
