Thanks to star Emma Watson's massive social media following, the first teaser trailer for Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" beat "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in its first 24 hours online.
The one-minute, 30-second peek at the highly anticipated live-action remake was viewed 91.8 million times — the most views ever registered by a film teaser in a 24-hour period. The second-most viewed such clip of all time is the second teaser for "The Force Awakens" (88 million views), followed by "Captain America: Civil War" (61 million views), the first teaser for "Force Awakens" (55 million views) and, in fifth place, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (34 million), all according to Disney, the studio responsible for all of the films.
If you find that ranking shocking, here's the key to why it took off:
Watson, who plays Belle in the Bill Condon-directed film, has an official Facebook page with 33.1 million "likes" and 21.8 million Twitter followers — that's exponentially more social reach than the entire "Star Wars" cast combined as of the time the Lucasfilms' second teaser dropped last year. (Remember, most of JJ Abrams' lead cast was comprised of relative unknowns and actors on the rise.)
Her sharing of the teaser is what's thought to have been the spark that set off a flurry of shares and ultimately views that outnumbered the second "Star Wars" trailer.
Beyond Watson's online reach, Disney shared the teaser video on its own highly-followed social channels.