<P> Beauty and the Beast grossed $504 million in the United States and Canada and $759.4 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $1.263 billion . With a production budget of $160 million, it is the second-most expensive musical ever made; only Hello, Dolly! (1969) with a budget of $25 million ($165 million in 2016 dollars) cost more . In just ten days, it became the highest - grossing live - action musical of all time, beating the nine - year - old record held by Mamma Mia! . It is currently the second - biggest musical ever overall, behind Disney's Frozen (2013). Worldwide, the film proved to be a global phenomenon, earning a total of $357 million over its four - day opening weekend from 56 markets . Critics said the film was playing like superhero movies amongst women . It was the second biggest March global opening, behind only Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the thirteenth - biggest worldwide opening ever and the seventh - biggest for Disney . This includes $21 million from IMAX plays on 1,026 screens, a new record for an IMAX PG title . It surpassed the entire lifetime total of the original film in just six days . </P> <P> Beauty and the Beast is the 300th digitally remastered release in IMAX company's history, which began with the re-release of Apollo 13 in 2002 . Its robust global debut helped push the company past $6 billion for the first time, and led to analysts believing that the film had a shot of passing $1 billion worldwide from theatrical earnings . On April 12, it passed the $1 billion threshold, becoming the first film of 2017, the fourteenth Disney film, and the twenty - ninth film overall to pass the mark . It became the first film since Rogue One (also a Disney property) in December 2016 to make over a billion dollars, and did so on its twenty - ninth day of release . It is currently the highest - grossing film of 2017, the highest - grossing March release, the highest - grossing remake of all - time, and the fifth - biggest Disney film . Even after inflation adjusted, it is still ahead of the $425 million gross ($760 million in 2017 dollars) of the original film . </P> <P> In the United States and Canada, Beauty and the Beast topped Fandango's pre-sales and became the fastest - selling family film in the company's history, topping the studio's own animated film Finding Dory released the previous year . Early tracking had the film grossing around $100 million in its opening weekend, with some publications predicting it could reach $130 million . By the time the film's release was 10 days away, analysts raised projections to as high as $150 million . It earned $16.3 million from Thursday previews night, marking the biggest of 2017 (breaking Logan's record), the biggest ever for a Disney live - action film (breaking Maleficent's record), the second biggest ever for both a G or PG - rated film (behind the sixth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince which also starred Watson), and the third biggest ever in the month of March (behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Hunger Games). An estimated 41% of the gross came from IMAX, 3D and premium large format screenings which began at 6 pm, while the rest--59%--came from regular 2D shows which began at 7 p.m. The numbers were considered more impressive given that the film played during a school week . </P> <P> On its opening day, the film made $63.8 million from 4,210 theaters across 9,200 screens, marking the third biggest in the month of March, trailing behind Batman v Superman ($81.5 million) and The Hunger Games ($67 million). It was also the biggest opening day ever for a film that wasn't PG - 13, displacing the $58 million opening Wednesday of Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince . Its opening day alone (which includes Thursday's previews) almost matched the entire opening weekend of previous Disney live - action films, Maleficent ($69.4 million) and Cinderella ($67.9 million). Unlike all previous four Disney live - action films witnessing a hike on their second day, Saturday, Beauty and the Beast actually fell 2%, but nevertheless, the dip was paltry, and the grosses are so much bigger compared to the other titles . Earning a total of $174.8 million on its opening weekend, it defied all expectations and went on to set numerous notable records . This includes the biggest opening of the year as well as the biggest for the month of March and pre-summer / spring opening, beating Batman v Superman, the biggest start ever for a PG title (also for a family film), surpassing Finding Dory, the biggest debut of all time for a female - fueled film, ahead of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the biggest for a Disney live - action adaptation, ahead of Alice in Wonderland and the biggest musical debut ever, supplanting Pitch Perfect 2 . Furthermore, it is also Watson's highest - opening, beating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--Part 2 same with Emma Thompson, director Bill Condon's biggest debut ever ahead of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 2 and the biggest outside of summer, save for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, not accounting for inflation . </P>

Narrator at the beginning of beauty and the beast