Disney's live-action fairy tale adaptations have become a franchise unto themselves, so there is clearly an expectation that Beauty and the Beast will do well. However, what's actually happening with the film's ticket pre-sale is a bit surprising. Not only is Beauty and the Beast selling tickets, it's actually selling out in some places, which is remarkable considering that the film doesn't come out for six weeks.
Advance tickets for Beauty and the Beast have been available on Fandango since Monday and in that five-day stretch the film has become the site's number one selling film for the week, apparently outselling everything that's actually coming out this week. In addition, Beauty is the top selling family movie at this point in the sales cycle, outperforming last summer's Finding Dory which was the previous record holder. Fandango is likening the film's pre-sale numbers more to what they're used to seeing for superhero movies then family films or musicals.
Beauty and the Beast has always been one of Disney's biggest animated features, so seeing the live-action version was likely always expected to be a big deal, yet, this really seems like it's become an even bigger event than anybody could have predicted. Disney's last live-action adaptation, The Jungle Book , grossed nearly a billion dollars around the world, Beauty may be looking to top that and become the first smash hit of 2017 in the process.
Previous Disney adaptations have tried to take a different look at their animated predecessor. Beauty and the Beast is going in a very different direction when it actually presents the exact story that everybody already knows. From the trailers, it's clear that the movie isn't trying to hide anything from the viewer. Rather, it wants everybody to know that those who know the animated version are going to get everything they already know. It's banking on the fact that fans will want to see the same story again, simply done by actual actors. Based on these pre-sales it certainly seems that fans want exactly that.
We know that Disney's B\_eauty and the Beast_ is already a great movie. It became the only animated feature film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. While it didn't win that award, it did win both musical Oscars, for Best Original Song and Best Score. Since the songs are no longer new it won't have as many chances to repeat that performance, although we know the movie will contain at least a couple brand new songs, including "For Evermore" which will be sung by Dan Stevens as the Beast in the movie, and Josh Groban over the film's closing credits.
For the real Beauty and the Beast fan, Disney is scheduling special fan events on the Thursday before the film's release. While it's not specifically stated by Fandango, there's a good chance that these are some of the screenings that are already selling out. If you want in you may want to pick up your tickets soon.
