While a few images from Disney’s upcoming Beauty & The Beast have been floating around, it’s only now that the House Of Mouse has officially released some, with the EW cover above, and some stills from the movie below. It gives us our first proper look at a CGI-assisted Dan Stevens as the Beast, with Emma Watson wearing the iconic yellow dress as Belle.
Alongside that, below you can see Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as Lefou, Kevin Kline as Maurice (Belle’s dad), as well as Cogsworth, Lumiere and some of the Beast’s other enchanted servants, who will be voiced by Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar® winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster; six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald as Madame Garderobe, the wardrobe; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.
‘Directed by Oscar® winner Bill Condon from a screenplay by TBD based on the 1991 animated film, the film is produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman with eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards® (Best Original Score and Best Song) for the 1991 animated film, providing the score, which will include new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as several new songs written by Menken and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice.’
The film will in in cinemas next March. [Read more…]
There aren’t many 90-year-olds who are still working, and who can sing a song as well as they did decades before. But then, Angela Lansbury isn’t your ordinary woman.
I’d imagine even Disney didn’t realise just how anticipated their live-action version Beauty & The Beast would be. But they got a taste when a teaser – featuring no footage from the movie – broke Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ record for the most online views for a trailer in 24 hours. Now we have a little bit more from the movie.
The teaser trailer for Beauty & The Beast ignited a huge amount of interest, with it beating The Force Awakens for the number of online views in the first 24 hours. Now that’s been followed with the poster your can see above.
One of the most interesting of Disney’s attempts to bring its animated back catalogue into the live-action arena is the upcoming Beauty & The Beast, which unlike Jungle Book, won’t just borrow the story, but will also bring the musical elements to life. Now the first teaser trailer has arrived, which concentrates on showing us the Beast castle as it atrophies due to the curse, before Emma Watson’s Belle shows up at the end.
The cast for Disney’s live-action take on Beauty & The Beast has fast been coming together with production set to start next month at Shepperton Studio. However many of the actors having been getting together before that, as Josh Gad has posted a selfie on Instagram to prove it.
It’s odd that in their animated movies Disney is content that fairytale people can have American accents, but when they turn live-action everything gets very British, whether it’s Angelina Jolie adopting an English accent for Maleficent or the fact most of the cast of Cinderella were Brits.
Although Disney hasn’t officially announced that its live-action Beauty & The Beast will even be a musical, it’s starting to sound like it’ll almost be a shot for shot remake of the 1991 animated movie (not really), but with more CGI than just a ballroom.
While Disney’s live-action fairytale films over the past few years have essentially been riffs on the studio’s classic animated movies, the more we hear about the planned Beauty and the Beast live-action flick, the closer it sounds to the wonderful 1991 film.