You might recall that, back in 2011, Emma Watson was circling the role of Belle in a Warner Bros.-backed, Guillermo del Toro-produced version of Beauty And The Beast. That didn’t make it out of development, but she’ll still get her shot at the story, as Disney has landed her services for its own take on the fairy tale.
As part of the Mouse House's continued attempt to turn its cartoon catalogue into live action films, Beauty And The Beast joins the likes of Maleficent, Cinderella and **The Jungle Book **on the list of reimagined fantasies. Dreamgirls director Bill Condon is the man to call the shots, working from a script by Stephen Chbosky, who rewrote a draft by Evan Spiliotopoulos. And like some grinning fairy godfather, del Toro apparently gave his blessing for Disney to poach his Belle.
Watson confirmed the news herself on Facebook with an excited post: “I’m finally able to tell you... that I will be playing Belle in Disney’s new live-action Beauty And The Beast! It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to ‘Be Our Guest’ and sing ‘Something There’. My six-year-old self is on the ceiling — heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
Condon and co. will be labouring in the shadow of the 1991 ‘toon, which took in more than $375 million worldwide and scored a rare animated nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars. As for Watson, she’ll next be seen in psychothriller Regression on August 28 and rebel kidnap drama Colonia, which doesn’t yet have a release date here.