Beauty and the Beast trailer breaks record for most views in 24 hours

Disney's latest offers a live-action remake of the classic 1991 animation - starring Emma Watson and Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens

Disney's Beauty and the Beast remake is already a record breaker, months before the film hits cinemas.

The film's first full trailer set a new record as the most watched in the first 24 hours, acquiring an incredible 127.6 million views (via Variety); excluding views acquired in China. A major factor seems to have been star Emma Watson herself, who plays Belle; Disney reports the launch saw over 29 million views on Facebook alone, with 27 million of those views coming from the actress' own page.

Furthermore, the hashtag #BeautyandTheBeast became the leading worldwide trend on Twitter and the trailer jumped to the top of YouTube's trending video page; Watson then joined fellow castmembers Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, and director Bill Condon on Monday for a Facebook Live session on the Beauty and the Beast page.

Will this translate into box office numbers? Considering the previous two records were set by Fifty Shades Darker (with 114 million views) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (with 112 million views). Beauty and the Beast's teaser from May also generated 91.8 million views, breaking the 88 million set by the teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The film also stars Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kevin Kline, and Audra McDonald. Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken has re-recorded the original animation's beloved songs - with some slight alterations - alongside penning three new musical numbers with the aid of lyricist Tim Rice.

We've also heard details about how Belle's iconic yellow dress will make its transition to screen, alongside a feminist twist added to the princess' backstory.

Beauty and the Beast hits UK cinemas 17 March, 2017.