Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

Beauty and the Beast is an American live-action fantasy, musical film directed by Bill Condon and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a remake of the 1991 animated film of the same name, and was written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and produced by Mandeville Films.

The script was rewritten by Stephen Chbosky. The film stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Prince/Beast. It was released on March 17, 2017.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $1 billion worldwide on a $160 million production budget, making it the highest-grossing film of 2017.

Summary
“Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.

Plot
In a vast castle of grandeur set in the heart of France, a young Prince is holding a ball to which the loveliest of women in all of the land were invited. They are all dancing away in the hope of winning the Prince's love and admiration as Madame de Garderobe sings. The party is interrupted when an old hag arrives at the castle in the hope of seeking shelter from the raging thunderstorm. All that she had to offer the Prince was a rose. However, the Prince is disgusted by her appearance and is infuriated due to the sudden disruption of the ball. He mocks her and declines the rose. The hag then transforms herself into a beautiful Enchantress, astonishing the Prince and scaring away all of his guests. The Prince begs for forgiveness, but the Enchantress has already seen that there is no love in his heart and hence transforms him into a hideous Beast. She also transforms his servants into household objects, and she removes the villagers' memories of the Prince and the castle. She reveals the rose to be an enchanted rose, and says that if the Prince hasn't learned to love another and gain love in return by the time the last petal falls from it, he would be a Beast forever, and the servants would change permanently into non-living antiques.

Years later, in the village of Villeneuve, a young bookworm and inventor named Belle is extremely bored of her village life and seeks excitement and adventure, contrary to the villagers who are very simple-minded and are quite happy where they are. They regard Belle as a very odd and "funny" girl. Belle lives with her father Maurice, a tinkerer and a music box maker. One day, Maurice and his horse, Philippe, leaves for the market and asks Belle if she wants a gift when he returns home. Belle asks for a rose and for his safe return. Eventually, Gaston, who is considered as a hero by all in the village on account of his success in the battlefield proposes marriage to Belle. But Belle turns him down knowing that he is extremely arrogant and self-absorbed. Meanwhile Maurice and Philippe get lost in the forest while travelling to the market. While lost in the forest, they enter a part of the forest that is strangely covered in snow in June and are attacked by wolves, causing them to flee to the Beast's castle. While in the castle, Maurice experiences an eerieness and is startled by voices which seem to have no source. Though he didn't see his host, he saw that the table was served with dinner for one. Just as he is about to have dinner, Chip, the teacup, makes a sudden movement towards him and talks to him which utterly stuns Maurice. He immediately makes for the door and goes straight to Phillippe to escape the strange castle. On reaching near the gates, Maurice notices that the castle gardens have beautiful roses which reminds him of what Belle wished for. However the Beast discovers Maurice plucking a rose from the castle's garden and detains him. Phillippe trots back to the village to find Belle. When Phillippe leads Belle to the castle, she offers to take her father's place in spite of her father's protests. The Beast accepts and sets her father free. Belle is released by the castle's maître'd, Lumière, who was turned into a candelabra as a result of the Enchantress's curse. Belle also meets the other castle residents that were transformed by the curse: the castle's majordomo, Cogsworth, a clock; Mrs. Potts, a teapot; her son Chip, a teacup; court composer, Maestro Cadenza, a harpsichord; Maestro Cadenza's wife who is an opera singer, Madame de Garderobe is a wardrobe; their dog FrouFrou, a footstool; Chapeau, a coatrack; Cuisinier, who is the castle's chef and a stove; and Plumette, a feather duster who is a maid and Lumière's fiancé.

After the staff offers Belle a meal, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. The tempremental Beast discovers her and frightens her into fleeing into the woods. where she encounters the wolf pack that chased Maurice earlier. The Beast rescues Belle but he gets injured in the process. He begins to develop feelings for her while she nurses his wounds. The Beast allows Belle access to his library and the two begin to develop feelings for each other. While the Beast has fallen in love with Belle, Belle is uncertain of her feelings due to her imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Maurice returns to Villeneuve but is unable to convince the others to rescue Belle. Gaston, a hunter and former soldier who is trying to woo Belle, agrees to help to earn Maurice's approval, but when he reveals his true intention to marry Belle, Maurice refuses. In response, Gaston ties Maurice up to a tree and abandons him in the forest to die. Maurice is rescued by a villager named Agathe and he returns to the village accusing Gaston of attempting to kill him. Gaston convinces the villagers to send Maurice to the town's insane asylum. Using the magic mirror, Belle sees Maurice being captured and the Beast allows her to leave to save him, letting her keep the mirror to see him again. At Villeneuve, Belle rescues Maurice and proves his sanity by showing the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston locks Belle up with her father and convinces the villagers that the Beast is a man-eating monster, leading them to the castle to kill him. However, Maurice and Belle escape from confinement and Belle starts for the castle to warn the Beast.

While the villagers are fended off by the servants, Gaston fights the Beast. The Beast initially is too depressed to retaliate, but regains his will after seeing Belle return to the castle. He corners Gaston and spares his life; however, Gaston shoots the Beast in the back twice before the footbridge crumbles beneath his feet and he falls to his death. The Beast dies as the last petal falls from the rose and Belle professes her love to him and kisses his forehead. While watching the scene, Agathe reveals herself as the Enchantress and undoes the curse, returning the Prince and his servants to their true forms and restoring the castle to its former glory. The village inhabitants return to the castle with their memories of it restored, and the Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom at which they dance.

Cast

 * Emma Watson as Belle
 * Daisy Duczmal as an infant Belle
 * Dan Stevens as Beast/the Prince
 * Adam Mitchell (mistakenly credited as Rudi Gooman in the cast) as young Prince
 * Luke Evans as Gaston
 * Kevin Kline as Maurice
 * Jolyon Coy as young Maurice
 * Josh Gad as LeFou
 * Ewan McGregor as Lumière
 * Ian McKellen as Cogsworth
 * Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts
 * Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza
 * Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe
 * Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette
 * Nathan Mack as Chip
 * Thomas Padden as Chapeau
 * Gizmo as FrouFrou
 * Clive Rowe as Cuisinier
 * Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque
 * Jimmy Johnston, Dean Street and Alexis Loizon as Tom, Dick and Stanley
 * Sophie Reid, Rafaëlle Cohen and Carla Nella as the Village Lasses
 * Hattie Morahan as Agathe/the Enchantress
 * Zoe Rainey as Belle's Mother
 * Gerard Horan as Monsieur Jean Potts
 * Tom Turner (mistakenly credited as Henry Garrett in the cast) as the King
 * Harriet Jones as the Queen
 * Ray Fearon as Père Robert

Development
Development of the film began on April 2014. By June 2014, Bill Condon was signed to direct the film, with a script by Evan Spiliotopoulos. Later in September 2014, Stephen Chbosky was hired to re-write the script.

Casting
Emma Watson was announced as the lead role as Belle in January 2015, Two months later, in March of 2015, actors Luke Evans and Dan Stevens were revealed to be in talks to play Gaston and the Beast respectively in the film. Josh Gad was confirmed to play LeFou in the film. Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Ian McKellen, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci also joined the cast in March of 2015.

Filming
Filming began on May 18, 2015 and ended on August 21, 2015. Six days later, it was announced that the film had officially wrapped up production.

Music
The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on March 10, 2017.

Reception
The film has received from mixed to positive reviews, with critics mostly praising the faithfulness to the animated film and elements of the Broadway musical version, performances, setting, visuals, costume design, and songs.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 249 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In CinemaScore polls, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Owen Gleiberman of Variety, in his positive review of the film, wrote: "It's a lovingly crafted movie, and in many ways a good one, but before that it's an enraptured piece of old-is-new nostalgia."

A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the performances of both Watson and Stevens, and wrote: "It looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn't recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy."

Mike Ryan of Uproxx praised the cast, production design and the new songs while noting the film doesn't try anything different, saying: "There's certainly nothing that new about this version of Beauty and the Beast (well, except it isn't a cartoon anymore), but it's a good recreation of a classic animated film that should leave most die-hards satisfied."

Conversely, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune said the adaption got lost in translation, writing, "The movie takes our knowledge and our interest in the material for granted. It zips from one number to another, throwing a ton of frenetically edited eye candy at the screen, charmlessly."

Wendy Ide and Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also gave a mixed review of the film. Ide wrote negatively, criticizing that the film was too, "ornate to the point of desperation", in trying to justify its existence and live up to the animated film. In contrast to her review, Bradshaw gave a positive remark, writing, "The whole movie is lit in that fascinatingly artificial honey-glow light, and it runs smoothly on rails – the kind of rails that bring in and out the stage sets for the lucrative Broadway touring version."

In his negative review of the film, Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal describes the adaption as one where, "Enchantment is chased, and never captured, in extravagant set pieces that owe less to fairytale tradition than to Cirque du Soleil grandiosity."

Box Office
As of April 16, 2017, Beauty and the Beast has grossed $454.6 million in the United States and Canada and $588.4 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $1.043 billion. With a production budget of $160 million it is the most expensive musical ever made; only Hello, Dolly! (1969) with a budget of $25 million ($165 million in 2016 dollars) cost more. In just ten days, it became the highest-grossing live-action musical of all time, supplanting the nine-year old record held by Universal Pictures' Mamma Mia!; It is currently the third biggest musical ever overall, behind Frozen (which also featured Josh Gad) and The Lion King (also both owned by Disney). Worldwide, the film proved to be a global phenomenon as it earned a total of $357 million on its four day opening weekend from 56 markets. Critics said the film was playing like superhero movies amongst women. That's the second biggest March global opening, behind only Batman v Superman, the thirteenth-biggest worldwide opening ever and the seventh-biggest for Disney. This includes $21 million from IMAX plays on 1,026 screens, a new record for an IMAX PG title. It surpassed the entire lifetime total of the original film in just six days and made a quarter of a billion dollars in just nine days.

Beauty and the Beast is the 300th digitally remastered release in IMAX company's history which began with the re-release of Apollo 13 in 2002. Its robust global debut helped push the company past $6 billion for the first time, and led to analysts believing that the film has a shot of passing $1 billion worldwide from theatrical earnings.

In the United States and Canada, Beauty and the Beast topped Fandango's pre-sales and became the fastest-selling family film in the company's history, topping the studio's own animated film Finding Dory released the previous year. Early tracking had the film grossing around $100 million in its opening weekend, with some publications predicting it could reach $130 million. By the time the film's release was 10 days away, analysts raised projections to as high as $150 million. It earned $16.3 milion from Thursday previews night, marking the biggest of 2017 (breaking Logan's record), the biggest ever for a Disney live-action film (breaking Maleficent 's record), the second biggest ever for both a G or PG-rated film (behind the sixth Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which also starred Watson), and the third biggest ever in the month of March (behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Hunger Games). An estimated 41% of the gross came from IMAX, 3D and premium large format screenings which began at 6 pm, while the rest – 59% – came from regular 2D shows which began at 7 pm. The numbers were considered more impressive given that the film played during a school week.

On its opening day, the film made $63.8 million from 4,210 theaters across 9,200 screens, marking the third biggest in the month of March, trailing behind Batman v Superman ($81.5 million) and The Hunger Games ($67 million). It was also the biggest opening day ever for a film that wasn't PG-13, displacing the $58 million opening Wednesday of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Its opening day alone (which includes Thursday's previews) almost matched the entire opening weekend of previous Disney live-action films, Maleficent ($69 million) and Cinderella ($67 million). Unlike all previous four Disney live-action films witnessing a hike on their second day, Saturday, Beauty and the Beast actually fell -2%, but nevertheless, the dip was paltry, and the grosses are so much bigger compared to the other titles. Earning a total of $174.8 million on its opening weekend, it defied all expectations and went on to set numerous notable records. This includes the biggest opening of the year as well as the biggest for the month of March and pre-summer/Spring opening, beating Batman v Superman, the biggest start ever for a PG title (also for a family film), surpassing Finding Dory, the biggest debut of all time for a female-fueled film, ahead of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the biggest for a Disney live action adaptation, ahead of Alice in Wonderland and the biggest musical debut ever, supplanting Pitch Perfect 2. Furthermore, it is also Watson's highest-opening of all-time, beating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 same with Emma Thompson, director Bill Condon's biggest debut ever ahead of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and the biggest outside of summer, save for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, not accounting for inflation.

It became the forty-third film to debut with over $100 million and the fifteenth film to open above $150 million. Its three day opening alone surpassed the entire original North American run of the first film ($146 million; before the 3D re-release), instantly became the second biggest film of the year, behind Logan ($184 million), and also the second highest-grossing musical, just behind Grease 's $188 million cumulative gross in 1978. 70% of the total ticket sales came from 2D showings signifying that people who don't go to theaters frequently came out in bulk to watch the film. About 26% of the remaining tickets were for 3D. IMAX accounted for 7% ($12.5 million) of the total weekend's gross, setting a new record for a PG title, ahead of Alice in Wonderland ($12.1 million) while PLF repped 11% of the box office. Females represented a staggering 70% of the film's total demographic on its opening day which eased out to 60% through the entire weekend. According polling service PostTrak, about 84 percent of American parents who saw the film on its opening day said they would "definitely" recommend it for families. The film's huge opening was credited to positive word of mouth from audiences, good reviews from critics, effective marketing which sold the title not just as a kid-friendly film but also as a romantic drama, the cast's star power (especially Emma Watson), lack of competition, being the first family driven film since The Lego Batman Movie a month earlier, nostalgia, the success and ubiquity of the first film and Disney's brand.

On Monday, its fourth day of release, the film fell precipitously by 72% earning $13.5 million. The steep fall was due to a limited marketplace where only 11% K-12 and 15% colleges were off per ComScore. Nevertheless, it is the second biggest March Monday, behind Batman v Superman ($15 million). This was followed by the biggest March and pre-summer Tuesday with $17.8 million, a +32% increase from its previous day. The same day, the film passed $200 million in ticket sales. It earned $228.6 million in the first week of release, the sixth-biggest seven-day gross of all time. In its second weekend, the film continued to maintain the top positioning and fell gradually by 48% earning another $90.4 million to register the fourth-biggest second weekend of all time, and the third-biggest for Disney. In terms of percentage drop, its 48% decline is the third-smallest drop for any film opening above $125 million (behind Finding Dory and The Force Awakens). The hold was notable considering how the film was able to fend off three new wide release; Power Rangers, Life and CHiPs. As a result, it passed the $300 million thresold becoming the first film of 2017 the pass the said mark.

Internationally, the film began playing on Thursday, March 16, 2017. Through Sunday, March 19, it had a total international opening of $182.3 million from 55 markets, 44 of which were major territories, far exceeding initial estimations of $100 million and opened at No. 1 in virtually all markets save Vietnam, Turkey and India. Its launch is the second bigget for the month of March, behind Batman v Superman ($256.5 million). In IMAX, it made a recorded the biggest debut for a PG title with $8.5 million from 649 screens, the second biggest for a PG title behind The Jungle Book. In its second weekend, it fell just by -35% earning another $120.6 million and maintaining its first position hold. It added major markets like France and Australia.

It scored the biggest opening day of the year in Hong Kong and the Philippines (where it is the sixth highest-grossing film of all time), the biggest March Thursday in Italy ($1 million, also the biggest Disney Thursday debut), the biggest March opening day in Austria, and the second biggest in Germany ($1.1 million), Disney's biggest March in Denmark, the biggest Disney live-action debut in China ($12.6 million), the UK ($6.2 million), Mexico ($2.4 million) and Brazil ($1.8 million) and the third biggest in South Korea with $1.2 million, behind only Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In terms of opening weekend, the largest debut came from China ($44.8 million), followed by the UK ($24.3 million), Korea ($11.8 million), Mexico ($11.8 million), Austalia ($11.1 million), Brazil ($11 million), Germany ($10.7 million), France ($8.4 million), Italy ($7.6 million), Russia ($6 million) and Spain ($5.8 million).

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film recorded the biggest opening ever for a PG film, the biggest Disney live-action opening of all time, the biggest March opening weekend, the biggest opening for a musical (ahead of Les Misérables), the number one opening of 2017 to date and the fifth-biggest ever overall with £19.7 million ($24.5 million) from 639 theatres and almost twice that of The Jungle Book (£9.9 million). This included the second biggest Saturday ever (£7.9 million), only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It witnessed a decent in its second weekend, earning £12.33 million ($15.4 million). Though the film was falling at a faster rate than The Jungle Book, it had already surpassed the said film and its sophomore weekend is the third biggest ever (behind the two James Bond films Skyfall (2012) and Spectre). In India, despite facing heavy competitions from four new Hindi releases, two Tamils films and a Malayalam and a Punjabi release, the film managed to take an occupancy of 15% on its opening day, an impressive feat despite such tremendous competitions. It earned around ₹1.5 crore (US$220,000) nett on its opening day from an estimated 600 screens which is more than the three Hindi releases – Machine, Trapped and Aa Gaya Hero – combined. Disney reported a total of ₹9.26 crore (US$1.4 million) gross for its opening weekend there. It was ahead of all new releases and second overall behind Bollywood film Badrinath Ki Dulhania. In Russia, despite receiving a restrictive 16 rating, the film managed to deliver a very successful opening with $6 million.

In China, expectations were high for the film. The release date was announced on January 24, giving Disney and local distributor China Film Group Corporation ample time – around two months – to market the film nationwide. The release date was strategically chosen to coincide with the White Day. Preliminary reports suggested that it could open to $40–60 million in its opening weekend. Largely driven by young women, its opening day pre-sales outpaced that of The Jungle Book. The original film was however never widely popular in the country. Although China has occasionally blocked gay-themed content from streaming video services, in this case, Chinese censors decided to leave the gay scene intact. According to local box office tracker Ent Group, the film grossed an estimated $12.1 million on its opening day (Friday), representing 70% of the total receipts. Including previews, it made a total of $14.5 million from 100,000 screenings, which is 43% of all screenings in the country. It climbed to $18.5 million on Saturday (102,700 showings) for a three day total of $42.6 million, securing 60% of the total marketplace. Disney on the other hand reported a different figure of $44.8 million. Either ways, it recorded the second biggest opening for a Disney live-action film, with $3.4 million coming from 386 IMAX screens.

The only markets where the film did not top the weekend charts were Vietnam (behind Kong: Skull Island), Turkey (with two local movies and Logan ahead) and India (where Badrinath Ki Dulhania retained No. 1). Next weekend it will open in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Chile and Malaysia and Japan – a huge Disney market – on April 21. The biggest earning markets are China ($73.4 million), the UK ($48.8 million), Mexico ($23.8 million), Brazil ($23.6 million) and Korea ($23.2 million).

Controversies
Emma Watson's and Josh Gad's portrayals as Belle and Lefou have been met with both praise and criticism.

Many Christians are boycotting the film due to the character of LeFou being a confused homosexual/bisexual, saying that making him that way confuses children. A drive-in movie theater owner in Henegar, Alabama is refusing to screen the film due to her Christian beliefs, and the film is banned in Malaysia. Russia has also declared that no one under the age of 16 is allowed to see the film.

Differences from the 1991 film

 * The Enchantress plays a much larger role in the 2017 film.
 * Unlike the animated film, the Prince is already a grown-up when he is cursed, where in the animated movie he was 11 years of age. He is however shown as an 11-year old in a flashback sequence during "Days in the Sun". None of the characters age during this time, whereas in the animated movie, the Beast is the only one who ages.
 * Unlike the animated film, Maurice is an artist and a music box maker rather than an inventor. Belle is an inventor instead.
 * Unlike the animated film, when Belle doesn't find out about the spell until the very end, she is told of it by the servants during her stay at the castle, though they don't tell her how it can be broken when she asks them.
 * Belle's backstory is explained in the film. This reveals why she and her father moved to a small town, and what happened to her mother.
 * Aside from Belle, the Beast's backstory is also explained, revealing just how he became heartless towards the people.
 * Revealing that the Beast had expensive education when he was young, he has much more intellect in the 2017 film.
 * The lyrics to the song "Gaston" are altered for the live-action movie and the reprise is excluded.
 * Belle and the Beast don't eat dinner before dancing.
 * Lumière and Cogsworth get along much better in the 2017 film.
 * Belle is much more proactive in the 2017 film - attempting to escape the castle and having much more involvement during the battle between the Beast and Gaston.
 * Mrs. Potts is the one who confirms the Beast's love for Belle, instead of the Beast himself.
 * Cadenza is a new character added for the 2017 film. He is the husband of the wardrobe.
 * Sultan is renamed Froufrou in the 2017 film. Also, he is Garderobe and Cadenza's pet dog instead of just being the palace dog.
 * Chip is an only child of Mrs. Potts. In the animated film, Chip had brothers and sisters who were minor characters.
 * Unlike the animated film, the Enchantress gave the Beast not only the enchanted rose and the mirror, but also a book that enables him to transport to a particular place.
 * Chef Bouche is renamed Cuisinier in this film.
 * Whenever a petal falls, parts of the castle will collapse and the staff gradually lose their humanity, becoming more inanimate over time. This was not present in the animated film.
 * Maurice is imprisoned in the castle only because of the rose he picked for Belle. This is a similar scene from the original fairy tale.
 * Cogsworth has more singing lines in this film than in the original.
 * Belle does not take off the glass cover of the bell-jar when the Beast caught her.
 * LeFou is taller in this film. He was also not bisexual in the original (however, he dances with a woman at the end, only to get accidentally paired up with a man when it comes time to change dance partners; the two look at each other in shock and are not seen again after this).
 * Unlike the original film, LeFou reforms at the end when he feels betrayed after Gaston used him as a human shield and leaves him to be beaten by the enchanted objects, while Gaston leaves to find and kill the Beast during the battle.
 * Gaston's buddies consist only of the three referred in both films as Tom, Dick, and Stanley, without the fourth man. They are also the ones who sing the section of the opening song calling Belle "peculiar", and they are the ones who get dressed as women by the wardrobe during the battle.
 * Gaston has a light mustache in this film. He is also known for being a former soldier, an army captain, who had once fought off Portuguese marauders (according to Luke Evans in an interview) and saved the village during the war, rather than as just a local hero, hunter and tavern owner. In addition, his muscular figure is removed in this film.
 * The Beast does not take Belle to her bedroom. Lumière and Cogsworth takes her instead.
 * Fifi is renamed Plumette in the 2017 film. She also has a bigger role in the 2017 film.
 * In the 2017 film, Gaston shoots the Beast using a pistol instead of an arrow. And before his death, Gaston shoots the Beast in the back twice with his pistol instead of stabbing him with a dagger.
 * The Enchantress appears to revive the Beast and reverse the curse she planted on him, watching as Belle tearfully confesses her true feelings. She does not, however, reveal herself to Belle nor speak to her. She doesn't actually speak in the film at all (aside from the opening narration) she remained a silent role, like in the animated film.
 * The Beast's physical appearance had minor changes: Instead of a combining features of various animals, he resembles more explicitly an anthropomorphic lion and his pair of horns features like an antelope instead of a buffalo. Also, his wild boar-like tusks and wolf-like tail are completely omitted in this 2017 film.
 * Majority of the characters' physical appearance as the enchanted objects inside the castle are changed: Mrs Potts' face is now on the right side of the teapot instead of on the spout; Lumière somewhat appears to be a golden sculptured human figure candlestick but when he transforms, his figure of a candlestick with three branches still remains; Froufrou retains the figure of a footstool but somehow resembles the form of a piano bench; Madame de Garderobe's face is inside the wardrobe instead of on the top; and Plumette resembles a miniature swan/peacock rather than an ordinary feather duster.
 * During "Something There", Belle and the Beast actually sing, unlike in the animated film, where their singing voices are only non-diegetic during the scene.
 * In the 2017 film, Gaston falls to his death when the footbridge on which he was standing breaks apart.
 * In the 2017 film, Gaston plans to murder Maurice when he reveals that Gaston will never marry Belle. As a result, he ties Maurice up to a tree, hoping for the wolves to devour him.
 * Maurice has a much bigger role than in the animated film.
 * In the woods, Belle does not save Maurice. Instead, it is the Enchantress, under the guise of Agathe.
 * Chip doesn't use a wood chopper to save Belle and Maurice; rather Maurice uses a long and sharp hair pin given by Belle to pick the lock on the carriage.
 * Chip doesn't go with Belle when the Beast lets her go.
 * When the servants are revived as humans, Cogsworth's human name, Henri, is revealed by his wife, Clothilde.
 * Belle rejects Gaston's marriage proposal instead of humiliating him and sings the reprise of "Belle" before Maurice gets lost in the woods.
 * When Maurice enters the castle, he doesn't interact with the Beast's servants, except for Chip, who scares him away when he speaks in front of him.
 * During the castle siege, Cogsworth warns the Beast rather than Mrs. Potts. Interestingly, in the Broadway musical, Lumière warns the Beast.
 * Mrs. Potts' husband is revealed to still be alive.
 * Monsieur D'Arque has a less, yet shorter defined, role. He only appears briefly during the scene when he commandeers an asylum carriage containing Maurice that was heading towards the asylum, only to be stopped by Belle as he dismounts and goes towards the back of the carriage and confronts her by subtly replying to her that they will "take good care of him" upon latter's urging to release Maurice. He is seen padlocking the carriage as he moves back towards the carriage while the townsfolk musters its forces on their march towards the castle. He later serves as a guard in watching the detained Maurice and Belle, only for the latter to escape. Upon seeing the carriage empty, Monsieur D'Arque is stunned when Maurice hands over the unlocked padlock to him, and they watch Belle return to the Beast's castle on horseback. The scene in a tavern involving Gaston bribing Monsieur D'Arque with a sack of money and detailing his plan of marriage to Belle is notably absent.
 * Unlike the animated film, the Bimbettes also participate in "The Mob Song" and the castle fight.
 * The Bimbettes are portrayed as brunettes in this film.
 * The song "Human Again" is not featured in the 2017 live action remake, but it was used in the Broadway musical production.
 * After Belle rejects his dinner invitation, the Beast enters the West Wing without saying anything before asking the Magic Mirror to show Belle.
 * After the Beast transforms into a human, he and Belle remain speechless while looking at each other.
 * The collar of Belle's primary dress was removed in this film.
 * Gaston offers Maurice to release him from the asylum carriage if he allows him to marry Belle, while in the animated film Gaston offered Belle to release Maurice if she married him.
 * Gaston doesn't lock Belle and Maurice during "The Mob Song". Monsieur D'Arque locks them instead before the song starts.
 * Unlike the animated film, Gaston's death is shown onscreen.
 * The snowman scene which LeFou disguise himself as a snowman while spying Belle and Maurice upon their return to the house in order to alert Gaston on their arrival is omitted in the live-action film. (Interestingly, Josh Gad voiced the snowman, Olaf in Disney's animated film Frozen which would almost have a coincidence in this film.)
 * During the battle with the villagers, Cogsworth is cornered by Tom, Dick and Stanley and Madame de Garderobe saves him by dressing them as women. While in the animated film, Lumière is cornered by LeFou, and Cogsworth saves him by poking LeFou in the rear with a pair of scissors.
 * The servants of the castle make their first physical appearance near the beginning of the film before the Prince is transformed into a beast. The ones who speak are Cogsworth (who informs the Prince that the ball is going to begin), Lumière (who speaks to the Prince in french "Oui, maître."), Madame de Garderobe (who sings during the ball), and Mrs. Potts (who calls out for her son Chip after the Enchantress reveals her true form to the Prince). While in the animated film, they first appear as living household objects when Maurice enters the castle.
 * Three new songs were written and composed for the film, in addition to the original songs featured in the animated version.

International Premieres

 * February 23, 2017 (London)
 * March 16, 2017 (Albania, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Republic of Korea, Croatia, Italy, Cambodia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Serbia, Taiwan)
 * March 17, 2017 (Bulgaria, Canada, China, Estonia, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, USA, Vietnam)
 * March 22, 2017 (France)
 * March 23, 2017 (Australia, Argentina, Hungary, Israel)
 * March 29, 2017 (Belgium, Netherlands)
 * March 30, 2017 (Chile)
 * April 14, 2017 (South Africa)
 * April 21, 2017 (Japan)

Trivia

 * This is the first live-action adaptation of a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie that is from the Disney Renaissance.
 * Cadenza is a new character created for this remake. He is the husband of the Wardrobe. He was transformed into a harpsichord, and was separated from his wife while the castle was under its spell.
 * This is Kevin Kline's first role for a Disney film since he played Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.
 * LeFou is Disney's first canonical gay character in a feature-length film.
 * Bill Condon had actors sing The Lion King 's "Hakuna Matata" at the auditions to measure their singing voices. This was how he chose the final cast for this film.
 * This is the fifth of many live-action re-imaginings of Disney animated films released in the 21st century, following Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Pete's Dragon. Following this remake is Mulan and The Lion King. Many others are in development, such as Cruella.
 * This is the first live-action remake of a Disney classic to be composed by the same composer as the original 1991 classic.
 * The teaser includes the opening music from the animated film and a piano sample of the title song.
 * This is the fourth time that Emma Thompson does a role for a Disney film, after playing Captain Amelia in Treasure Planet, Queen Elinor in Brave and P. L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks.
 * This is Ewan McGregor's second movie-musical that takes place in France, the first being Moulin Rouge!.
 * This is the second movie collaboration between Emma Watson, Stanley Tucci and Kevin Kline following The Tales of Despereaux. Tucci and Kline previously worked in the 1999 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
 * This is the fourth movie collaboration between Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci following Jack the Giant Slayer, Robots and A Life Less Ordinary.
 * Ewan McGregor and Emma Thompson previously worked on Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.
 * Actors Luke Evans who played Gaston and Ian McKellen who played Cogsworth previously collaborated in The Hobbit trilogy, in which Evans played as a bowman named Bard, while McKellen played as the wizard Gandalf; however, their characters did not interact until the finale of the trilogy. Ironically; in the trilogy they played as allies whereas in this film, they played as enemies. In addition, both of the characters (Gaston and Cogsworth) in this film do not interact.
 * Actors Stanley Tucci, who played Cadenza, and Dan Stevens, who played the Beast, previously worked together in Bill Condon's thriller film The Fifth Estate.
 * Actresses Emma Watson, who played Belle, and Emma Thompson, who played Mrs. Potts, previously worked in the Harry Potter franchise as Hermione Granger and Sybill Trelawney, respectively.
 * The production cultivated a total of 1500 "enchanted" roses for the movie.
 * All of the wardrobe was made of sustainable materials that were eco-friendly.
 * Interestingly, the actors Emma Watson (Belle), Luke Evans (Gaston), Emma Thompson (Mrs Potts) and Nathan Mack (Chip) share the same birth date, April 15th.
 * Emma Watson revealed that she wanted to play Belle instead of Cinderella, explaining that her personality associated much more with the former than the latter.
 * The name of the village, Villeneuve, is a reference to Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, who was the original author of the book Beauty and the Beast (or "La Belle et la Bête"), which was first published in the mid-1700's.
 * Unlike the past three live-action remakes (Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book), this remake has no characters that are good in their debut, but changed into villains in the remake (King Stefan for Maleficent, the Grand Duke for Cinderella and King Louie for The Jungle Book). All of the characters that are good in the animated version of their debut are also good in the remake.
 * The line where Belle suggests that the Prince should grow his beard was originally an idea from Paige O'Hara when recording for the animated film. It was eventually cut.
 * Cogsworth's line "So much for true love." which he uttered during castle siege scene is the same line uttered by Ursula in The Little Mermaid.
 * Chip's movement particularly the matching saucer which he uses in moving around freely bears a resemblance of BB-8 from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
 * During Belle and Beast's waltz, the letters WD can be seen in the coat of arms design on the floor of the Ballroom. This is a nod to Walt Disney.
 * The padlock on the asylum carriage that Maurice and Belle are imprisoned in has a Hidden Mickey embedded in its design.
 * The scene in which Belle singed parts of its reprise in a green meadow hills scenery bears a similarity from the opening title song in The Sound of Music (1965) which pays an homage to it.
 * The scene during the "Gaston" song number, when Gaston chases LeFou while saying about sneaking up with his quiver in the tavern bears a similarity to the opening of the "Let's Get Married" number from Sunshine on Leith (2013). Both are set in taverns and both involve a character chasing another character and then standing up on the bar itself. There's also similarities to the Over and Done With number from Sunshine on Leith and the "Oom-Pah-Pah" number from Oliver! with characters dancing on tavern tables.
 * Some of the scenes in the "Be Our Guest" song number that was featured in this film pays an homage of tributes to other musicals such as:
 * At "culinary cabaret" there is a musical snippet of "Wilkommen" from the musical Cabaret.
 * When the feather-dusters create a fountain which Lumière dances underneath it while holding the Bouillon spoon as an umbrella, features the iconic scene from  (1952) in its title song.
 * When Lumière is saying that "life is so unnerving for a servant who's not serving", he performs a shadow dance routine through the use of a handkerchief as a cover in homage to the Cell Block Tango sequence from Chicago (2002), which Bill Condon wrote the screenplay for.
 * The finale contains an Indian-style setpiece (and a brief musical tone), in homage to the musical film  in which Ewan McGregor also starred and which features an Indian number.
 * Also unlike the past two live-action remakes of Disney Movies, there is no gender difference in any character in this remake (Jaq is a male mouse in the animated Cinderella film, but is female in the live-action remake of Cinderella and Kaa is a male snake in the animated version of The Jungle Book, but is female in the live-action remake). Also, the coat rack's gender was not specified in the original.
 * Two iconic landmarks from two Disney animated movies made a cameo in this film:
 * The Sultan's Palace of Agrabah from Aladdin. Appears twice, first in a form of a replica model in the music boxes and second as a posh model featured during the "Be Our Guest" song number.
 * Notre Dame Cathedral from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
 * Mrs. Potts portrayed by Emma Thompson, also played Mrs. Lovett at the Lincoln Center performance of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2014. Her predecessor, Angela Lansbury who portrayed Mrs. Potts in the 1991 animated version played Mrs. Lovett in the original theater production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 1979. Additionally, Thompson and Lansbury also collaborated in Nanny McPhee (2005).
 * Dan Stevens is the fourth actor from the Downton Abbey drama series to have a featured role in Disney. His co-stars, Lily James and Sophie McShera previously appeared together in another Disney film, Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella as Cinderella and Drisella Tremaine while Ed Speleers plays as James Harcourt in 2016 Disney film Alice Through the Looking Glass. Coincidentally, Lily James also worked with Emma Thompson in 2015 drama film Burnt.
 * This is the first Disney live-action remake to gross over $1 billion (Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland doesn't count, for that film portrays a different version of the story, rather than a direct remake).
 * It is also the first movie of 2017 that grossed over $1 billion.