'Beauty and the Beast' Delivers a Record-Setting $170 Million Opening
Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast has delivered a film the size of a summer blockbuster in the month of March, debuting with not only a record-setting March opening weekend, but the seventh largest domestic opening of all-time as Disney now owns six of the top seven opening weekends of all-time. Thanks in large part to Beauty and the Beast's opening, but also to the continued strong performances from Logan, Get Out and a decent hold from Kong: Skull Island, this weekend's top twelve grossed a combined $249.5 million, the largest combined top twelve since December 2015 when Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters.
With an estimated $170 million, Beauty and the Beast topped the previous March opening weekend record of $166 million set by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice just last year. It's also the seventh largest opening weekend ever, ahead of the $169.1 million opening for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and just behind Iron Man 3's $174.1 million opening from May of 2013. It's also the largest opening for a PG-rated film, topping Finding Dory's previous record of $135 million, as well as the largest Spring opening weekend, fourth largest Saturday gross of all-time, sixth largest Sunday gross and eighth largest theater average for a wide opening release.
The film also set records in IMAX, delivering the #1 global and domestic openings for a PG-rated film in the IMAX format. Beauty and the Beast's estimated $21 million on 1,026 IMAX screens in 56 markets worldwide pushed the company past the $6 billion mark in total global box office since the inception of the DMR process with Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience in 2002.
Internationally, Beauty and the Beast delivered an estimated $180 million from 44 material markets for an estimated $350 million global opening (#14 all-time). Of its international openings, Beauty and the Beast opened as the #1 film in all but three markets (Vietnam, India and Turkey), led by an estimated $22.8 million in the UK, the highest grossing three-day opening in the market for a PG movie as well as an estimated $44.8 million in China, already surpassing the entire run in China for Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland. Additional markets include an estimated $11.9 million in Korea; $11.6 million in Mexico; $10.7 million in Germany; $10.4 million in Brazil; $7.6 million in Italy; $6 million in Russia and $5.8 million in Spain.
By comparison, Disney reports the same suite of markets at today's rates shows Beauty and the Beast's opening weekend running +35% ahead of The Jungle Book, +96% ahead of Alice In Wonderland, +100% ahead of Maleficent and +148% ahead of Cinderella. Notable international markets where the film has yet to open include France, Australia and Japan.
Beauty and the Beast will look to continue its domestic performance over the coming weeks after receiving an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences of which 72% were female vs. 28% male and 45% of opening day audience members were under the age of 25. Beyond opening weekend the overall audience breakdown saw a 60% female vs. 40% male split, of which 52% were under the age of 25.
In second position, WB and Legendary's Kong: Skull Island brought in an estimated $28.85 million, dropping 53% from its solid opening weekend last week, bringing its domestic cume just over $110 million after ten days in release. Additionally, the film added another $38.5 million internationally this weekend as its global cume now stands at $259.3 million.
Third belongs to Fox's Logan, which brought in an estimated $17.5 million as its domestic cume is now just shy of $185 million. Internationally, Logan added another $31.5 million this weekend bringing its worldwide cume to $524.1 million, as it remains the #1 worldwide release of 2017.
Universal's Get Out finished fourth with an estimated $13.2 million as its domestic cume now stands at $133 million. The thriller from Jordan Peele also made its international debut this weekend in nine markets where it brought in an estimated $2.9 million. Of those releases it brought in an estimated $2.6 million in the UK for a third place finish.
Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate's The Shack with an estimated $6.1 million as its cume now stands at $42.6 million.
The only other new wide release for the weekend was BH Tilt's The Belko Experiment, which fell just a bit shy of Mojo's weekend projection, but managed to meet the studio's target number, delivering an estimated $4 million for the weekend from 1,341 theaters. It's the second largest opening for a BH Tilt title.
Elsewhere, Hidden Figures topped $165 million domestically as it added another $1.5 million, the Weinstein's Lion topped $50 million domestically after adding an estimated $784k and La La Land is now just shy of $150 million domestically after bringing in an estimated $530k this weekend.
In limited release, TriStar debuted T2 Trainspotting in five theaters where it brought in an estimated $180,000 ($36,000 PTA). The film, which was made on a $18 million budget ($14 million after rebates) will continue to expand over the coming weeks.
Broad Green's release of Terence Malick's Song to Song debuted in four theaters this weekend and brought in an estimated $53,945 ($13,486 PTA) and Music Box released Frantz into two theaters where it brought in an estimated $18,500 ($9,250 PTA).
Next weekend will not only be interesting as we will see just how well Beauty and the Beast can hold on, but also because there are several new wide releases hitting theaters including WB's R-rated comedy CHiPs in ~2,400 theaters, Sony's sci-fi thriller Life in ~3,000 theaters and Lionsgate's release of Power Rangers in ~3,500 theaters. Additionally, River Rain will be releasing the sports drama Slamma Jamma into 1,000+ theaters while Fox Searchlight releases Craig Johnson's comedy Wilson into ~250 theaters.
You can browse all of this weekend's estimated results right here and we'll be updating our charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
With an estimated $170 million, Beauty and the Beast topped the previous March opening weekend record of $166 million set by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice just last year. It's also the seventh largest opening weekend ever, ahead of the $169.1 million opening for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and just behind Iron Man 3's $174.1 million opening from May of 2013. It's also the largest opening for a PG-rated film, topping Finding Dory's previous record of $135 million, as well as the largest Spring opening weekend, fourth largest Saturday gross of all-time, sixth largest Sunday gross and eighth largest theater average for a wide opening release.
The film also set records in IMAX, delivering the #1 global and domestic openings for a PG-rated film in the IMAX format. Beauty and the Beast's estimated $21 million on 1,026 IMAX screens in 56 markets worldwide pushed the company past the $6 billion mark in total global box office since the inception of the DMR process with Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience in 2002.
Internationally, Beauty and the Beast delivered an estimated $180 million from 44 material markets for an estimated $350 million global opening (#14 all-time). Of its international openings, Beauty and the Beast opened as the #1 film in all but three markets (Vietnam, India and Turkey), led by an estimated $22.8 million in the UK, the highest grossing three-day opening in the market for a PG movie as well as an estimated $44.8 million in China, already surpassing the entire run in China for Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland. Additional markets include an estimated $11.9 million in Korea; $11.6 million in Mexico; $10.7 million in Germany; $10.4 million in Brazil; $7.6 million in Italy; $6 million in Russia and $5.8 million in Spain.
By comparison, Disney reports the same suite of markets at today's rates shows Beauty and the Beast's opening weekend running +35% ahead of The Jungle Book, +96% ahead of Alice In Wonderland, +100% ahead of Maleficent and +148% ahead of Cinderella. Notable international markets where the film has yet to open include France, Australia and Japan.
Beauty and the Beast will look to continue its domestic performance over the coming weeks after receiving an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences of which 72% were female vs. 28% male and 45% of opening day audience members were under the age of 25. Beyond opening weekend the overall audience breakdown saw a 60% female vs. 40% male split, of which 52% were under the age of 25.
In second position, WB and Legendary's Kong: Skull Island brought in an estimated $28.85 million, dropping 53% from its solid opening weekend last week, bringing its domestic cume just over $110 million after ten days in release. Additionally, the film added another $38.5 million internationally this weekend as its global cume now stands at $259.3 million.
Third belongs to Fox's Logan, which brought in an estimated $17.5 million as its domestic cume is now just shy of $185 million. Internationally, Logan added another $31.5 million this weekend bringing its worldwide cume to $524.1 million, as it remains the #1 worldwide release of 2017.
Universal's Get Out finished fourth with an estimated $13.2 million as its domestic cume now stands at $133 million. The thriller from Jordan Peele also made its international debut this weekend in nine markets where it brought in an estimated $2.9 million. Of those releases it brought in an estimated $2.6 million in the UK for a third place finish.
Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate's The Shack with an estimated $6.1 million as its cume now stands at $42.6 million.
The only other new wide release for the weekend was BH Tilt's The Belko Experiment, which fell just a bit shy of Mojo's weekend projection, but managed to meet the studio's target number, delivering an estimated $4 million for the weekend from 1,341 theaters. It's the second largest opening for a BH Tilt title.
Elsewhere, Hidden Figures topped $165 million domestically as it added another $1.5 million, the Weinstein's Lion topped $50 million domestically after adding an estimated $784k and La La Land is now just shy of $150 million domestically after bringing in an estimated $530k this weekend.
In limited release, TriStar debuted T2 Trainspotting in five theaters where it brought in an estimated $180,000 ($36,000 PTA). The film, which was made on a $18 million budget ($14 million after rebates) will continue to expand over the coming weeks.
Broad Green's release of Terence Malick's Song to Song debuted in four theaters this weekend and brought in an estimated $53,945 ($13,486 PTA) and Music Box released Frantz into two theaters where it brought in an estimated $18,500 ($9,250 PTA).
Next weekend will not only be interesting as we will see just how well Beauty and the Beast can hold on, but also because there are several new wide releases hitting theaters including WB's R-rated comedy CHiPs in ~2,400 theaters, Sony's sci-fi thriller Life in ~3,000 theaters and Lionsgate's release of Power Rangers in ~3,500 theaters. Additionally, River Rain will be releasing the sports drama Slamma Jamma into 1,000+ theaters while Fox Searchlight releases Craig Johnson's comedy Wilson into ~250 theaters.
You can browse all of this weekend's estimated results right here and we'll be updating our charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
