Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

*This is about the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. For the animated movie, see* *Beauty and the Beast* (1991 film).

 Produced by
Walt Disney Pictures
Don Hahn
David Hoberman
 Written by
Evan Spiliotopoulos (story)
 Starring
Dan Stevens
Luke Evans
Kevin Kline
Josh Gad
Ewan McGregor
Stanley Tucci
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Audra McDonald
Ian McKellen
Emma Thompson
 Music by
Tim Rice
Howard Ashman
 Editors
 Cinematography
 Studios
Mandeville Films
 Distributors
 Release date (s)
 Language
 Preceded by
 Followed by

***Beauty and the Beast*** is an upcoming American live-action fantasy, musical film directed by Bill Condon, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a remake of the 1991 animated film of the same name and will be written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and produced by Mandeville Films.

The script will be rewritten by Stephen Chbosky. The film will star Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Prince/Beast. It is scheduled for release on March 17, 2017.

## Cast

* Emma Watson as Belle
* Dan Stevens as the Beast
* Luke Evans as Gaston
* Kevin Kline as Maurice
* Josh Gad as LeFou
* Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque
* Hattie Morahan as the Enchantress
* Zoe Rainey as Belle's Mother

### Voices

* Ewan McGregor as Lumière
* Ian McKellen as Cogsworth
* Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts
* Stanley Tucci as Cadenza
* Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette
* Audra McDonald as Garderobe
* Nathan Mack as Chip

## Production

### Development

Previously in 2009, Disney began developing a film adaptation of the 1994 Broadway musical. However, in a Den of Geek interview, composer Alan Menken stated the planned film version of the *Beauty and the Beast* stage musical "was canned."

In April 2014, it was reported that Disney began developing a new live-action version of *Beauty and the Beast* after making other live-action fantasy films such as *Maleficent*, *Cinderella*, and *The Jungle Book*. On June 4, 2014, Bill Condon signed on to direct the remake of *Beauty and the Beast* for Walt Disney Pictures with Evan Spiliotopoulos writing the script. Condon originally planned on not only drawing inspiration from the original film, but he also planned to include most, if not all, of the Menken/Rice songs from the Broadway musical, with the intention of making the film as a "straight-forward, live-action, large-budget movie musical". In September 2014, it was announced that Stephen Chbosky (*The Perks of Being a Wallflower*) will re-write the script. Composer Alan Menken will return to score the film's music, with songs from the original film and new material written by Menken and Tim Rice. In June 2015, Menken said the film will not include songs that were written for the Broadway musical.

Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the original animated film, offered to help Watson with her singing lessons.

### Casting

On January 26, 2015, Emma Watson announced that she would be starring as Belle, the female lead. On March 4, 2015, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens were in talks to play Gaston and the Beast respectively, and Watson confirmed their casting the following day through tweets. Josh Gad was added to the cast on March 13, 2015 to play Gaston's sidekick, LeFou. Emma Thompson joined the cast on March 16, 2015 to play Mrs. Potts and Kevin Kline to play Belle's father, Maurice. Audra McDonald was cast as Garderobe, the wardrobe, on March 27, 2015. Ian McKellen was cast on April 10, 2015 to play Cogsworth, the Beast's loyal butler, who was cursed into a clock and overtook the castle. On April 13, 2015, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was set to play Plumette, the feather duster. On April 21, it was announced that Ewan McGregor had joined the cast as Lumière, the candelabra, and later that same day, that Stanley Tucci would be playing Cadenza, a grand piano, an original character created for the film.

Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle on Broadway, commented on the casting of Watson as "perfect".

### Filming

Principal photography on the film began at Shepperton Studios in London on May 18, 2015. Principal actors concluded filming on August 21, 2015. Six days later, co-producer Jack Morrissey confirmed that the film had officially wrapped production.

## Trivia

* This is the first live-action adaptation of a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie that is from the Disney Renaissance.
* Emma Watson (Belle) was offered to play the lead role in *Cinderella* but she declined.
* This is the sixth of many live-action remakes of classic Disney animated films released during the 21st century, the others being *Alice in Wonderland*, *Maleficent*, *Cinderella*, *The Jungle Book* and *Alice Through the Looking Glass*.
* Cadenza is a new character created for this remake.
* Emma Watson, Luke Evans, and Emma Thompson share the same birth date of 15th April.
* Kevin Kline previously voiced Phoebus in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* and its sequel
* Filming was completed by August 27, 2015.
* Bill Condon had actors sing *The Lion King*'s "Hakuna Matata" at the auditions to measure their singing voices. This was how he chose the final cast for this film.
* The teaser includes the opening music from the animated film and a piano sample of the song.

* Three new songs were written and composed for the film, in addition to the original songs featured in the animated version.
	+ The film will *not* include songs from the Broadway adaptation.

* This will be the fourth time that Emma Thompson will do a role for a Disney film after playing Captain Amelia in *Treasure Planet*, Queen Elinor in *Brave* and P. L. Travers in *Saving Mr. Banks*.