'Beauty and the Beast' Runtime Longer Than Animated Classic; Character Posters Revealed

By Denise See, Christian Post Contributor Monday, January 30, 2017

Viewers have a lot more to look forward to when "Beauty and the Beast" premieres in theaters. It has been revealed that the upcoming Disney flick is 39 minutes longer than its animated counterpart.

According to Fandango, "Beauty and the Beast" will run for two hours and three minutes, or 123 minutes. This is significantly more than the animated classic that cemented Belle as a Disney princess back in 1991, which only ran for one hour and 24 minutes, or 84 minutes.

It is unclear what plot changes have been made or added to make the live adaptation longer than the original. However, it is believed that a few new songs will help extend the runtime. Disney has already teased a couple of familiar tunes from the animated film, including "Something There" and "Belle (Reprise)." "Beauty and the Beast," the classic song originally recorded by Celine Dion, will also be featured. This time, though, John Legend and Ariana Grande are stepping in to give their rendition of the song.

All of the songs, including the Grammy Award and Academy Award-winning "Beauty and the Beast," will be featured on the film's official soundtrack, which will be released a week ahead of the movie's premiere date.

In anticipation for its release, a lot of teasers and promos have been unveiled by Disney. The most recent promo come in the form of character posters, featuring the two main leads as well as the supporting cast. In addition to Emma Watson's Belle and Dan Stevens' the Beast, posters of Luke Evans' Gaston and Josh Gad's LeFou have been revealed.

Human and furniture forms of the other characters are also included. Stanley Tucci's Cadenza, Audra McDonald's Garderobe, Ian McKellen's Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor's Lumiere, Emma Thompson's Mrs. Potts and Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Plumette all have individual character posters. Kevin Kline's Maurice and the human form of the Beast are seen at the end.

"Beauty and the Beast" will premiere in U.S. theaters on March 17, 2017.