Disney’s live action remake of the animated princess movie, Beauty And The Beast has officially won the hearts of millennials. For this year, to date, the movie has already grossed $170 million in sales at the box office for its opening weekend. This calculation was done for screenings of the movie in the United States alone and proves that family movies are still all the rage.
In fact, Beauty And The Beast has beaten the record held last year by Pixar’s Finding Dory that grossed $135 million at the box office for its opening weekend. The movie has a stellar ensemble cast, with Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson playing the character of Belle. It was reported that the movie took $160 million to create, and Emma earned $3 million for her lead role.
Disney’s idea of remaking audience’s favorite classics has bode well for the company. In all, re-creations have been done for Alice In Wonderland, Cinderella, Maleficent and The Jungle Book, with other classics, including The Lion King, Dumbo, Mulan and Aladdin still in the works.
Head of Distribution at Disney, Dave Hollis has said of the success of Beauty And The Beast, “Nostalgia is a very powerful driver for these films. What’s exciting here is that 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 a foundation of something that’s very familiar.”
The remake of Beauty And The Beast saw a little twist that is a first-time ever for Disney. The character LeFou, played by Josh Gad, who is the sidekick of Gaston, is actually gay and has his own “gay moment” in the second half of the film. Though a small number of people protested this, this all-embracing act by Disney has proven to be lucrative.
Beauty And The Beast tells the story of a young girl, Belle who adores books as much as she does her widowed father. Due to her beauty, she pursued by the narcissistic Gaston for her hand in marriage. One fateful day, her father is kidnapped and held prisoner by the Beast in his castle. In exchange for the freedom of her father, Belle is imprisoned within the confines of the castle. She is befriended by the animated clock, cutlery, crockery and candlestick, who believe her innocence will be able to break the spell of the lonely prince and bring peace to the castle again. The movie has been re-created in the same magical fashion as the original animated version, with musical contributions by John Legend, Ariana Grande and Celine Dion.
Cast
Emma Watson as Belle
Dan Stevens as the Beast
Luke Evans as Gaston
Josh Gad as LeFou
Sir Ian McKellen as Cogsworth
Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts
Beauty And The Beast released on March 17, 2017 in theatres worldwide.
