‘Beauty and the Beast’ Nears $500 Million at Worldwide Box Office

Disney’s blockbuster “Beauty and the Beast” has already topped the $490 million mark at the worldwide box office as it moves into its second weekend.

The live-action musical took in $10.9 million domestically on Thursday, down only 5% from the previous day, to take the seven-day total to $228.6 million — making it one of the top seven opening weeks of all time in North America. Disney noted that the weekday numbers rival those for summer and holidays.

“Beauty and the Beast” opened in Australia with $1.6 million on Thursday for the second highest March opening day of all-time behind only “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.” It had already grossed $1.3 million in previews. In Argentina, the film opened to $600,000, the highest opening day of 2017.

Thursday’s international take was $17.8 million, pushing the overseas total to $262 million. China is the leader with $60.3 million, followed by the U.K. with $34.2 million and Mexico with $18.4 million.

“Beauty and the Beast” is already the 171st highest worldwide grosser, trailing the entire run of “Clash of the Titans” with $493.2 million. It surpassed the final $425 million box office for 1991’s animated “Beauty and the Beast” earlier this week.

Bill Condon directed the film, which stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. The price tag is $160 million.

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter