Beast Roars in Monster Debut

Disney's live-action Beauty was a beast at the box office, opening with an estimated $170 million in North American ticket sales and setting a new high mark for family movies, reports the AP. Beauty and the Beast dominated globally, notes the Hollywood Reporter, pulling in another $180 million from screens around the world. According to studio estimates Sunday, Beauty and the Beast blew past the previous record-holder for G- or PG-rated releases. Last year, Disney's Finding Dory debuted with $135 million. Perhaps an even bigger feather for Beauty: It garnered the seventh biggest domestic start ever, notes the Reporter.

Beauty and the Beast, made for about $160 million, is the latest effort by Disney to re-create one of its animated classics with live action and digital effects. It follows previous remakes such as Cinderella, Maleficent and last year's The Jungle Book. This Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon, found widespread acclaim and some backlash for including what Condon called Disney's first openly gay character. (One place where that character was not a hit: Russia.)