Beauty and the Beast breaks box office record with highest-grossing opening for a PG film

The Disney live action remake made £19.7 million in the Uk and $170 million in the US 
Record-breaking: Disney's Beauty and the Beast has had the most successful opening for a PG film ever
Disney
Jennifer Ruby21 March 2017
The Weekender

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Beauty and the Beast has set a new box office record in its first three days, with the highest-grossing opening of a PG film ever.

The live action Disney remake of the classic cartoon took an impressive $19.7 million over the three-day weekend, making it the fifth-highest UK film opening of all time.

Bill Condon’s brand new film, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, has also been breaking records over in the US, taking $170 million during opening weekend.

This makes it the country’s seventh biggest debut of all time and the highest-grossing March opening ever.

The film outsold the rest of the top 10 combined, with Kong: Skull Island coming in second place with £28.9 million on its second weekend.

This also marks the best ever opening for a Disney live-action remake, beating other successful films including Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland.

Beauty and the Beast has received positive reviews from critics but faced controversy in a number of countries due to the inclusion of openly LGBT character Le Fou.

Disney has now pulled the film in Malaysia rather than cut scenes involving the character, played by Josh Gad.

“The film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia,” a Disney rep told Bloomberg.

In Russia the film is being shown in the original format, but has only been approved for audiences over the age of 16.

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