With a renewed interest in films based on fairy tales, you can understand why Disney wants to be at the forefront of the movement. They’ve had success with Alice In Wonderland and (hopefully) Oz The Great And Powerful, and the Sleeping Beauty inspired Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, is due in 2014. And now Deadline reports they’re considering a live action version of Beauty & The Beast.
Joe Aherne has apparently been tasked with reinventing the story and coming up with a script. Ahearne is a veteran of This Life, Doctor Who and Apparitions, and he also wrote and directed the TV movie Trance, which is soon getting a big screen makeover courtesy of Danny Boyle.
There’s no news on the exact direction he’ll take the fairytale, although Disney is currently referring to it simply as ‘The Beast’, which certainly suggest a slightly darker tone. The 1991 Disney movie version was one of the House Of Mouse’s biggest hits both critically and commercially, becoming the first animated movie to score a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
It’s very early days for the live action version, so don’t expect to see it anytime soon.