From the studio that has already given us live-action versions of animated films like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast likely was the riskiest of them all, as far as potential backlash was concerned. Though now 26 years old, Beauty and the Beast is still much more recent than those other animated classics, and many can clearly remember growing up during the film’s initial release and explosion in popularity. Simply put, it has more of a “This movie is mine” feel among some fans, who could be quite upset if this new version isn’t handled well.

Would Disney disappoint? … Not likely!

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast delivered  a film the size of a summer blockbuster in the month of March, debuting with a  record-setting March opening weekend. Director Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast waltzed to a monstrous opening of $170 million from 4,210 theaters at the North American box office. Overseas, the update of the classic 1991 animated musical also dazzled, earning $180 million for an elegant global bow of $350 million.

Beauty and the Beast set a number of new records, including the biggest domestic start ever for a PG title both in North America and overseas surpassing Finding Dory’s $135 million. And it also passed the $166 million domestic debut of last year’s Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice to land the top March opening of all time. Better yet, the family friendly movie boasts the seventh-biggest domestic start of any film, and the biggest outside of summer save for fellow 2015 December blockbuster, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, not accounting for inflation. The film also set records in IMAX, delivering the #1 global and domestic openings for a PG-rated film in the IMAX format. Additional records set include:  largest Spring opening weekend, fourth largest Saturday gross of all-time, sixth largest Sunday gross and eighth largest theater average for a wide opening release.

Disney’s live action tale will look to continue its domestic performance over the coming weeks after receiving an “A” CinemaScore from opening day audiences of which 72% were female vs. 28% male and 45% of opening day audience members were under the age of 25. Beyond opening weekend the overall audience breakdown saw a 60% female vs. 40% male split, of which 52% were under the age of 25. Disney reports the same suite of markets at today’s rates shows Beauty and the Beast‘s opening weekend running +35% ahead of The Jungle Book, +96% ahead of Alice In Wonderland, +100% ahead of Maleficent and +148% ahead of Cinderella. Notable international markets where the film has yet to open include France, Australia and Japan.

Beauty and the Beast stars Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, and the cast also includes Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson.

 

 

 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story landed a most impressive $155 million opening in North America this weekend and also brought in $290.5 million globally, making it the top movie around the world.

Rogue One top-lined the fourth largest December three-day weekend ever, delivering the third largest opening of 2016, the twelfth largest opening of all-time and became and became the second best opener in the month of December only behind last year’s monster opening for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The opening weekend for “Rogue One” exceeded Disney’s expectations. The studio projected that the film would debut in the range of $120 million to $150 million. And that number is without the world’s second largest movie market, China. The film opens there on January 6.

The film received an “A” CinemaScore across all demographics as it played to crowds that  were 59% male and 41% female, while 26% were between the age of 26 and 34, according to data shared by the studio.

Rogue One encountered many obstacles even before its galactic journey began:  reports of extensive reshoots as the studio and the film’s director Garth Edwards and screenwriter Tony Gilroy labored to find the right tone and to hammer out a more satisfying ending,  a standalone, experimental project that was never expected to play to Force Awakens-style numbers. The pent-up demand for The Force Awakens was built over a decade and caused a tremor in fans young and old, as well as the uninitiated

However, regardless of the obstacles in bringing “Rogue One” to screens, audiences seem to have responded enthusiastically to the finished product, turning out in droves.

Rogue One is playing like a ‘normal’ blockbuster — albeit one with a rarefied pedigree. The lucrative holiday period is just kicking in and the film is expected to stretch out, benefiting from the strong critical and audience response.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the Force is definitely with you!

 

 

The press embargo has been lifted and judging from the reviews the force is with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!

Rogue One is a movie crammed with fan service, but when fan service is done this well, there’s little to complain about and much to adore. The film offers a remarkable recreation of the original Star Wars’ world, while exploring this universe from a different, edgier perspective than is the norm. – IGN

For the original generation of “Star Wars” fans who weren’t sure what to make of episodes one, two, and three, “Rogue One” is the prequel they’ve always wanted. – Variety

Rogue One is the best Star Wars film since The Empire Strikes Back. – ComingSoon.net

‘Rogue One’ is the most original modern ‘Star Wars’ movie — and one of the most thrilling – Business Insider

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story answers the question of whether that galaxy far, far away is big enough to sustain multiple offshoots with an emphatic yes. – CNN

This Is The ‘Star Wars Story’ You’re Looking For – Forbes

The Force Is Definitely With This Amazing ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff – RollingStone

Rogue One manages to succeed as both super-nerdy fan service and the first entry since the 1977 original that will satisfy people who have never seen a Star Wars film. RogerEbert.com
It stands alone as the best Star Wars entry since 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, it’s that good. – New York Daily News

Despite its darker tone, Rogue One feels cosily at home in the Star Wars universe, and is crowded with the kind of imagination-tickling details the franchise thrives on. Daily Telegraph (UK)
Its variations on a theme are muscular and adroit. This is another really entertaining fantasy with fan-fiction energy and attack. – The Guardian

oaded with more battle action than any of its seven predecessors, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story plays like a set-up for the events in the 1977 original and, for the most part, does so quite entertainingly. – Hollywood Reporter

This is more like it…the ‘Star Wars’ movie J.J. Abrams SHOULD have made. – Movie Nation

 

Disney’s Moana made waves in the extended holiday box office with the second largest five-day Thanksgiving opening of all-time and the third largest three-day Thanksgiving opening of all-time!

As previously noted, the five-day opening ranks as the second largest Thanksgiving debut ever behind Disney’s Frozen ($93.6m five-day) and just ahead of Toy Story 2($80.1m five-day).

As a result, Disney now owns nine of the top ten five-day and three-day Thanksgiving weekend openings . Moana‘s three-day weekend is also the third largest opening for Walt Disney Animation Studios, behind only Zootopia and Big Hero 6, both of which opened on Friday and should Moana‘s three-day gross come in $700,000 higher than estimated it would surpass Big Hero 6 on that list.

Moana‘s demographic breakdown was 45% male vs. 55% female with 34% of the audience coming in 12 years or under, 43% over the age of 25 and 72% of the audience made up of families. Opening day audiences gave the film an “A” CinemaScore.

 

 

Just a few short days ago, The Walt Disney Studios posted its biggest year of all time at the global box office, landing $5.851B to best the 2015 full-year record. Now, thanks to the spellbinding Doctor Strange, the Mouse has topped itself once again by speeding past the $6B mark — hitting it for the first time in the company’s history. Disney’s worldwide box office sits at $6.07B.  Better yet, it is virtually assured of setting a new industry record in 2016, besting Universal’s 2015 $6.89 billion.

For the second year in a row, the Walt Disney Studios has reached a new high at the box office thanks to an absolutely stellar collection of releases from Disney, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.

Disney boasts no fewer than four of the top-grossing 2016 movies so far. “Zootopia” and “The Jungle Book” did better than anyone expected  – “Zootopia” surpassed $1 billion worldwide, “The Jungle Book” is just under that mark.  “Finding Dory” as well as “Captain America: Civil War” were the huge blockbusters everyone thought they would be  – “Dory” and “Civil War” are slots one and two, respectively, in the top domestic earners of 2016.

Disney had already set several new industry records this year, becoming the fastest studio to collect $2 billion domestically (July 16), $3 billion internationally (July 6) and $5 billion globally (July 10). And on Oct. 16, the studio hit its best year ever internationally.

But Disney isn’t through yet. After “Doctor Strange,” it still has coming out this year “Moana” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the first standalone “Star Wars” film.

Looking ahead to 2017, Disney has another chance to outpace their own records.They have Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Black Panther from Marvel and Cars 3 from Pixar, not to mention Star Wars Episode VIII.