'Beauty and the Beast' Movie Starts Production, Reveals Stellar Cast
The production for Walt Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast is coming together. Josh Gad just posted a cast photo in his personal Instagram account, giving fans a delightful update on their upcoming film.
The image, from left to right features:
• Josh Gad as Gaston's loyal sidekick Lefou
• Dan Stevens as the cursed The Beast
• Emma Watson as the beautiful Belle
• Luke Evans as the vain and arrogant Gaston
• Kevin Kline as Belle's father Maurice
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The film set for a March 17, 2017 release will also feature Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the feather duster Plumette, Emma Thompson as the teapot Mrs. Potts, Audra McDonald as Garderobe, and Ian McKellen as The Beast's butler.
The film will feature new recordings of original songs such as "Be Our Guest" and "Tale As Old As Time," along with new songs written by Tim Rice and Academy Award winner Alan Menken who is also responsible for the musical score. Originally written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and rewritten by "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" author Stephen Chbosky, "Beauty and the Beast" will be directed by Bill Condon who is set to take heavily from the original animated movie.
"Plot details are unknown at this point, but Disney does not seem to be slowing down in mining their animated classics for new, live action-takes," writes Entertainment Weekly.
One thing is for sure, Watson will sing in the film. The actress confirmed it in an interview with The Telegraph stating it as the challenging part of portraying the bookish Belle:
"I sing, so that's really unexpected. I've never had to do that for a film role before, and I think people will be interested to see me do something very different like that. It gives me a different challenge, really. That's terrifying in and of itself!"
Disney's 1991 animated feature of the same title grossed over $375 million and became the first ever animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture.
