Disney"s "Beauty and the Beast" debuts at $170 million

I hope you like seeing Disney"s animated classics turned into live-action features. They"re not going away anytime soon.

We have Beauty and the Beast to thank for that. Disney"s flesh-and-blood (and CG) remake of the 1991 hit opened at the top of the domestic box office with an estimated $170 million. That"s more than the animated feature earned during its entire theatrical run in the U.S., which ended at $145.9 million.

Beauty"s opening weekend success was evident early on when it logged a $64.1 million opening day. That was enough to give it the third best start of all time for a March movie, after Batman V Superman ($81.6 million) and The Hunger Games ($67.3 million).

The success continued the next day when the movie sailed past studio estimates for a mid-$50 million Saturday to earn more than $60 million. The final Sunday numbers could come close to that — or even exceed it — if the cold weather start to spring break sends families scurrying off to theaters.

If the $170 million estimate bears out — or is exceeded — then Disney will be the proud owner of a new all-time box office weekend record for March. It"ll be close; the previous record, held by Batman V Superman, stands at $166 million.

Disney was already expecting a hit weeks before Beauty hit theaters. Online ticket retailer Fandango outed the movie as its fastest-selling family film to date, beating out Disney"s (via Pixar) 2016 hit, Finding Dory.

Beauty and the Beast is Disney"s fourth live-action take on an animated classic in as many years. It may be the most successful as well, if this monster opening is any indication.

Although more of a spin-off, Maleficent kicked off the trend in 2014 with its live-action telling of the titular Sleeping Beauty villain"s origin story. Cinderella followed the next year, delivering more of a straight adaptation of the classic story. Both movies opened in the mid-$60 million range.

The Jungle Book followed Cinderella"s lead in 2016, opting for adaptation over spin-off. Audiences loved it — an all-star cast of voice actors helped — delivering a $103.3 million opening for the almost 50-years-later remake and its CG cast of talking animals.

Beauty and the Beast marks Disney"s first attempt at turning one of its more contemporary animated classics into a live-action movie. Although it hasn"t endeared itself to critics the way the 1991 film did, audiences are flocking to see it — likely thanks to the mix of a top-tier cast led by Emma Watson and the timeliness of the remake, which has nostalgic appeal to the young tastemakers of 2017.

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