14 Apr – Hitting big at the box office is not unexpected for the House of Mouse. So it's safe to say that no one was all too surprised when the Emma Watson-starring film, "Beauty and the Beast", hit the USD1 billion mark and just kept going. Walt Disney Studios revealed that the movie is to date 2017's highest-grossing film worldwide and the highest grossing live-action movie musical of all time. "Beauty and the Beast" reached the USD1 billion worldwide milestone this week, with the North American total being over USD438.3 million and scoring over USD564 million overseas, based on Box Office Mojo stats. In Malaysia, Disney confirmed that it has already collected RM21 million at the local box office after spending two weeks since its release at number one on the local top 10 chart. The Bill Condon-helmed film was just released last March and reached the billion mark in a month. It is already ranked #29 on the all-time worldwide box office list and it still has room to grow before the summer movie season begins. And Disney is expecting to dominate the box office again with this year's release of "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". It's also interesting to see if any other of the planned live-action Disney remakes can beat "Beauty and the Beast". Maybe Jon Favreau's "The Lion King"? But for now, after the success of "Beauty and the Beast", director Bill Condon is eyeing to helm Universal's "The Bride of Frankenstein".
Condon has gone on record before stating that the original 1935 "Bride of Frankenstein" is his most favourite classic movie of all time, according to Deadline. "The Bride of Frankenstein" made an appearance in one of his previous films, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1", as Condon's homage to the film. The film will be a part of Universal's "monsterverse" that will kick off with Alex Kurtzman's "The Mummy", coming out this June. Some of the other features of the planned cinematic universe include "The Wolfman", "The Invisible Man", "Van Helsing" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon", all in various stages of development. "The Bride of Frankenstein" remake is being produced by Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan ("Fast And Furious 7"). The script will be written by David Koepp ("Jurassic Park") and it is said that the film will have a kind of feminist angle. So far, no actors have been cast, hence there are yet to be a set filming date and set release date.