Disney's
Beauty and the Beast remake is preparing for its second round in theatres after a monstrous opening weekend. Though the original 1991 film never had a sequel that took place after the events of the story, there have been questions from some as to whether the live-action film could have one, especially considering that Jon Favreau's
The Jungle Book will be getting a follow-up despite its deviation from the animated film's ending.
However, according to Deadline, Disney may have learned a lesson from the underperformance of last year's
Alice Thorugh The Looking Glass, opting to not try and force a sequel, though Sean Bailey (president of Motion Picture Production at Walt Disney Studios) has said that the studio plans to explore scenarios for a future prequel or spinoff.
There are currently no plans for a sequel and the studio — perhaps with Alice Through The Looking Glass as a reminder — won’t try to force one. It will explore possible spinoff and prequel scenarios, Bailey said.
In other related news, the remake has now managed to pull in a whopping
$428 million at the global box office (according to
The Wrap), and will likely pass
$500 million by the end of the week, which puts the film past the combined totals of the original animated classic ($425 million between 1991 and the subsequent IMAX and 3D re-releases in 2002 and 2012 respectively). Star
Josh Gad (LeFou) also revealed that he tried to include an Easter Egg related to Disney's
Frozen, though it didn't make the cut (you can read more about that
here).
Have you seen
Beauty and the Beast yet? Would you want to see a spinoff or prequel? Let us know what you thoughts in the comments!