Beauty And The Beast Could Make As Much As $245 Million Worldwide This Weekend

According to new box office estimates, Disney's new live-action Beauty and the Beast is eyeing an opening where it makes between $215 million and $245 million worldwide for its first weekend.

According to Deadline, which supplied the numbers, that would make it the biggest March opening ever worldwide, surpassing The Hunger Games ($211.8 million) and Alice In Wonderland ($210.1 million).

In the US alone, Beauty and the Beast is projected to bring in over $120 million, according to previously disclosed estimates. Bear in mind that box office estimates are not always accurate.

A big opening for Beauty and the Beast would be no surprise, as ticket pre-sales were strong.

Beauty and the Beast, which is a-telling of the 1991 animated classic, opens in theaters this Friday, March 17. The original was nominated for Best Picture (a first for an animated movie) and ended up winning two Oscars, including Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

Emma Watson stars in Beauty and the Beast as Belle, while Dan Stevens plays Beast. The movie also features Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou. Ian McKellan plays Cogsworth and Ewan McGregor portrays Lumiere. You can watch a clip of Watson singing "Belle" right here.

It is just the latest live-action adaptation of a classic Disney film, following Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Alice in Wonderland.

In other news, McGregor has responded to the controversy over the sexuality of LeFou.