Beauty and the Beast is a 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, and co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films.^[5] The film is based on Disney’s 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s eighteenth-century fairy tale.^[6] The film features an ensemble cast that includes Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the titular characters with Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nathan Mack, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson in supporting roles.^[7]

Principal photography began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England on May 18, 2015, and ended on August 21. Beauty and the Beast premiered on February 23, 2017, at Spencer House in London and was released in the United States on March 17, 2017, in standard, Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3Dformats along with Dolby Cinema.^[8] The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many praising Watson and Stevens’ performances as well the ensemble cast, visual style, and production merits, though it received some criticism on the effects especially those surrounding the Beast, and the multitude of similarities to the original. The film has grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, surpassing the original film and making it the highest-grossing film of 2017 and the 10th highest-grossing film of all time.