The live-action Beauty and the Beast remake is now the highest grossing PG-rated film of all time. Ever since Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland hit theaters in 2010, Disney has been pushing for more live-action remakes of the classic animated films that turned the studio into a global powerhouse. The Mouse House currently has over a dozen live-action remakes in the pipeline, with a handful of them being sequels. Disney is clearly showing no signs of slowing down, especially considering how well Beauty and the Beast is performing.
Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga) directed 2017's Beauty and the Beast from a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Huntsman: Winter's War), which starred Dan Stevens (Legion) as Prince Adam/The Beast and Emma Watson (Harry Potter) as Belle. Watson was originally tapped to play Belle in Guillermo del Toro's Beauty and the Beast flick for Warner Bros., but when the director dropped the project, she took Disney up on their offer to star in their remake. It looks like it all worked out in the end.
The film has reached multiple milestones since its debut in March 2017, and the studio can tack on another one to that list. According to box office reporting site, Box Office Mojo (via MovieWeb), Disney's live-action remake is now the highest grossing PG-rated film of all time. As of May 7, 2017, the film has grossed an astronomical $487.7 million at the domestic box office. Worldwide, it has earned $1.187 billion thus far.
Beauty and the Beast broke the record this past weekend when it passed Pixar's Finding Dory ($486.3 million) for the top spot. Rounding out the rest of the highest grossing top five films are Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace ($474.5 million), Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope ($461 million), and Shrek 2 ($441.2 million). It's worth noting that the latter three films have not been adjusted for ticket-price inflation, which would likely alter the rankings.
At the rate it's currently going, Beauty and the Beast stands a chance at overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2 ($1.341 billion) to become Emma Watson's highest grossing movie ever, though it still has a long way to go. Even if it doesn't, the entire cast and crew certainly have a hit on their hands. The question is, where do they go from here?
With box office numbers like that, it's possible Disney would be interested in producing more stories around Belle and Prince Adam. Stevens has already mentioned that he would be interested in reprising his role in another film, though he doesn't know how that would work considering that Prince Adam is no longer the Beast. Interestingly, Watson thinks she has a way to circumvent issues surrounding a sequel. It seems like both Stevens and Watson are game to return for another film, should it happen. Until then, they can continue basking in the success of this year's Beauty and the Beast.
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Source: Box Office Mojo (via MovieWeb)
