Just yesterday we said when we were reporting that Luke Evans was in talks to play Gaston in Disney’s live-action Beauty And The Beast, that it wouldn’t be long until the film had found its beast, but it happened quicker than we thought, as THR reports that Dan Stevens has entered negotiations for the role.
Looking at Stevens’ lovely face it seems rude that he’d ever be classed as a Beast, but presumably there’ll be plenty of makeup to ensure he looks suitably hairy for the role.
As we mentioned yesterday, it’s not known how close the film will be to the 1991 animated movie, or indeed if it’ll be a musical, but Emma Watson (who’ll play Belle) ahs previously said on Facebook, “It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to ‘Be Our Guest’ and sing ‘Something There.’ … Time to start some singing lessons.”
Since leaving Downton Abbey, Stevens has been building his film career with movies such as Night At The Museum 3, A Walk Among the Tombstones and The Guest, but this will be his biggest role yet, even if he is hidden behind a lot of fur.
Bill Condon is set to direct, with the movie due to shoot later this year.
In late January Emma Watson was officially announced as Belle in Disney’s planned live-action version of Beauty And The Beast. Now 
For the last few years Disney has been looking into their animated back catalogue to see which of their movies they can take into the live-action arena, resulting in films like Maleficent and the upcoming Cinderella.
The successful opening of Maleficent must have given Disney confidence that their plan to make live-action movies based on classic fairy tales is a good idea. They already have Cinderella coming next year, Alice In Wonderland 2 will go into production this summer, The Jungle Book is in development and now it’s been revealed they’ve developing Beauty & The Beast, with Dreamgirls and Twilight: breaking Dawn helmer Bill Condon directing.