Beauty and the Beast breaks records in its opening weekend

The word of the weekend is huge, as Disney’s latest live action adaptation of an animated classic made all the money. Here’s what went down:

Beauty and the Beast was an absolute monster at the box office, debuting at number one with an astounding estimate of $174 million. That’s the biggest March opening in history, breaking the record set last March by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s $166 million. Reviews have been strong, hype has been in overdrive and there’s a lack of family films in theatres at the moment – all factors that have clearly made this film a hit. It should definitely have legs over the coming weeks, so it will be interesting to see how high Beauty and the Beast will climb during its theatrical run.

As for the rest of the top five, Kong: Skull Island fell to second place with $28.9 million. This is a strong number, Kong only dropped 53% week to week, which shows that word of mouth is helping audiences find the film. It’s still questionable as to whether the film will hit $200 million, but its not for lack of trying.

Logan was in third place with $17.5 million, and it should cross the $200 million mark by next weekend, making it the most successful of the Wolverine films. Get Out was in fourth place with $13.2 million, while The Shack closed things out in fifth with $6.1 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) Beauty and the Beast – $150 million
2) Kong: Skull Island – $25 million
3) Logan – $20 million
4) Get Out – $14 million
5) The Shack -$6 million

And here’s how the weekend is estimated to turn out:

1) Beauty and the Beast – $174 million
2) Kong: Skull Island – $28.9 million
3) Logan – $17.5 million
4) Get Out – $13.2 million
5) The Shack -$6.1 million

Next weekend sees the release of CHiPs, Life and Power Rangers. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions!