As Disney continues to go down the list of animated movies it wants to remake as live action films, the studio has reached Beauty and the Beast. Former Harry Potter star Emma Watson has been cast as Belle in the new movie.
The casting was confirmed by TheWrap today, adding that Bill Condon, who directed the last films in the Twilight seires, will helm this adaptation of the tale as old as time. Stephen Chbosky, who directed Watson’s breakthrough post-Potter film, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, wrote the script. A previous draft was written by Evan Spiliotopoulos.
Watson has been linked to Beauty and the Beast for years, but not Disney’s film. As far back as 2011 and 2012, Watson was linked to Guillermo Del Toro’s planned version of the story, which was set up at Warner Bros. However, since Del Toro left the project in June 2014, that project has stalled.
TheWrap reports that Disney actually asked Del Toro for his blessing before casting her, since the Mouse House also agreed that she needed to play Belle.
Watson confirmed on Facebook that she will be playing the role.
Disney previously adapted Beauty and the Beast in 1991 and it became the first ever animated film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The company also produced a successful Broadway version.
Of course, the story of a beauty falling in love with a beast has been told on screen countless times, from Jean Cocteau’s poetic 1946 film to the current series on The CW.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com
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