The controversial Walt Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast” opened over the weekend simultaneously in the U.S. and China, the two largest film markets in the world. It had a box-office receipt of $170 million in North America, and broke “Finding Dory” opening weekend record in 2016 of $135 million.
Movie Soundtrack
The new version is an update from the 1991 animation which featured Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson singing the theme song of the movie. For the 2017 version, Ariana Grande and John Legend sang the movie theme, while Jing Boran and Tian Fuzhen did a Chinese version, China Daily reported.
Besides the theme song, Celine Dion performed “How Does A Moment Last Forever?” as part of the soundtrack of the new “Beauty and the Beast” which is now available.
Dave Hollis, Disney head of animation, pointed out that a powerful driver for Disney’s recreation of its animated classics with live action and digital effects is nostalgia. Moviegoers are given the chance to see the beloved stories in a new way, but Disney builds in on the foundation of something familiar. But Hollis stressed that movie producers do not earn $170 million by banking on nostalgia alone. They have to make the movie great, Fox News reported.
Bonus for Film’s Stars
In China, the movie earned $44.8 million, according to Disney. Because of the backlash caused by the gay moment of Le Fou. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, predicts the total box-office receipts of “Beauty and the Beast” would exceed $1 billion.
Higher earnings would boost the paycheck of some of the stars of the film. Emma Watson, who plays Belle, reportedly received $3 million as upfront payment. However, it could go up to as much as $15 million if “Beauty and the Beast” performs as well as “Maleficent” for which Angeline Jolie was paid $20 million when the film earned $759 million.