Disney is celebrating this morning. “Beauty and the Beast” scored $63.7 million from Thursday to Friday. It’s heading to a $150 million plus weekend and a spot on the top 10 box office list of all time.
If Saturday and Sunday numbers are comparable, the total could be around $170 million.
That would put star Emma Watson in a rare category of being the guest in another block buster along the lines of “Harry Potter.” Of course, in this case, there is no sequel. (Please God.)
If “B&B” beats $179.1 million posted by “Captain America: Civil War” last year, the fanciful musical will be the fifth biggest opening weekend of all time. Disney already has most of the top 10 openings thanks to its acquisition of Star Wars and Marvel.
But with “B&B” this will be an actual Disney home grown movie, a rarity. They scored last year with “Jungle Book,” but Disney’s live action hits are not usually hits (See “Lone Ranger”) other than “Pirates of the Caribbean.” With “The Lion King” next, Disney can turn all their cartoons into live action movies.
