We’ve had a couple of blockbuster weekends at the box office over the last two weeks but it goes to new heights with the highly anticipated release of the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. The film will be huge, that is no doubt, but how HUGE is what we’re pondering as we head into the weekend.
Overall, the property comes with built-in nostalgia and has cross-generational appeal, with parents who saw the 1991 Oscar-winning animated film as kids expected to take their own families to see it this weekend. It has been considered one of the greatest animated films of all time and has only built a stronger following as the years go by.
Ignoring the built in fandom of the Disney property, there is the massive worldwide appeal of its star, Emma Watson. The actress has 82 million followers across her social media platforms which is thanks in large part to the Harry Potter movies. Watson also represents female empowerment at a time when the world is calling for more role models for girls as we have seen with the massive success of Disney’s own, Moana ($600 million worldwide expected to be cleared this week).
Belle and company have the next several weeks to themselves in the genre with no massive global title on deck until Easter and The Fate Of The Furious. There are also intermittent half-terms for school kids in some markets coming up. It seems like the timing is right on this one to really break out.
The one negative (and it’s only a slight negative in my opinion) is that the film isn’t getting huge raves from critics. The reviews are so-so with a 67% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing but even the “bad” reviews aren’t entirely scathing. This film feels review proof in my eyes and will do well regardless what the critics say.
Tracking has this grossing $120-130 million over the weekend and while that is a healthy number, I think it will go above that. Fandango reported it has the best pre-sales for a family film in their 17 year history and as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, tracking has been off with the last two blockbusters as Logan & Kong: Skull Island both bested their tracking estimates. I’m calling an opening in the $150-160 million range but despite this opening, I don’t think the other male-skewing pictures from the last couple of weeks will see their numbers affected that much. In the end, we’re looking at a pretty healthy weekend at the box office.
