Beauty and the Beast Makes Double Power Rangers At Weekend Box Office

Beauty and the Beast was a record-breaking box office smash in its first weekend, with the biggest opening of any March release. However, Disney’s popular live-action remake faced another big draw to compete with in its second weekend as Lionsgate’s Power Rangers reboot made its debut. Other strong March entries like Logan and Kong: Skull Island also promised stiff competition.


Despite those three strong movies, Beauty and the Beast still entered its second weekend as a sure bet to rule the theaters once again, with predictions having it set to continue its massive early returns in weekend No. 2. Now the full weekend numbers are in and Beauty and the Beast indeed dominated again, both domestically and worldwide.

As reported by Variety on Sunday, Beauty and the Beast ruled with $88.3 million at 4,210 North American theaters. The total is more than double the earnings for Power Rangers, which beat its projection with an estimated $40.5 million. Rounding out the top-five are Kong: Skull Island with $14.4 million, Life with $12.6 million, and Logan with $10.1 million. Led by Beauty and the Beast, U.S. theaters have already set a new record for March with over $1 billion and counting, according to comScore.


Beauty and the Beast didn’t just dominate in domestic theaters – it’s a massive international hit as well. Variety later reported that the film earned $119 million overseas in its second weekend. Its two-week worldwide total is now at a gigantic $690 million. This means its global total has already cracked the top-100 all-time, passing Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ($682 million) for 92nd place – and it’s only going to grow. Bill Condon’s film marks the fourth consecutive Disney release to surpass $600 million worldwide, following Doctor Strange, Moana, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

March has enjoyed a surprisingly powerful run of blockbusters, none stronger than Beauty and the Beast; its $88.3 million was the fourth-best second weekend in history behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($149 million), Jurassic World ($106 million), and The Avengers ($103 million). With no end in sight for the film’s commercial success, it is sure to pass $700 million worldwide in the coming days and push for $1 billion as we head into April.

The summer of 2017 is certainly packed with highly anticipated big-budget releases, and March has given the blockbuster season a good start, although it will prove to be a tough act to follow for April releases.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Beauty and the Beast release date: Mar 17, 2017