Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has continued its magical run at the box office by becoming the first movie of 2017 to cross the $1 billion mark worldwide.
The film – which is now the highest-grossing live-action musical of all-time – reached the milestone on Wednesday, taking 29 days to hit the ten-figure mark and push its global haul to $1.002 billion. Although it will face stiff competition at the box office this weekend from The Fate of the Furious, it still has a Japanese release to come, so expect its global haul to continue to rise.
In terms of Disney’s live-action fairy tale movies, it has also surpassed Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland to become the studio’s biggest earner, a feat it achieved yesterday.
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.
Beauty and the Beast is directed by Bill Condon and sees Emma Watson as Belle alongside Dan Stevens as Beast, while the cast also includes Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Luke Evans as Gaston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as Le Fou and Audra McDonald as Garderobe.
