Beauty And The Beast Advance Ticket Sales Pacing Ahead Of Finding Dory

Advance tickets for Disney's upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast movie went on sale earlier this week and the early results seem positive. Deadline reports that advance ticket sales through Fandango are pacing ahead of early sales for another Disney movie, Finding Dory, at the same point in time.

That movie made a massive $135 million at the US box office for its opening.

Fandango said it is seeing "unstoppable early pre-sales," the likes of which are more on par with a superhero film. Deadline reports that hundreds of showtimes around the US are already sold out.

Beauty and the Beast, which stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, opens in theaters on March 17. It is just the latest live-action adaptation of a classic Disney film, following Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Alice in Wonderland.

Looking ahead, there are live-action versions of Mulan, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Winnie the Pooh in the works.

Beauty and the Beast is directed by Bill Condon, who was behind the camera for the final two Twilight movies, as well as the Oscar-winning Dreamgirls.

Last week, Disney released posters for all the main stars, including Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast and the Prince, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts. The newest trailer premiered on Monday--watch it here.