Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)

Beauty and the Beast
Teaser poster
Directed by	Bill Condon
Produced by	David Hoberman[1] Todd Lieberman[1]
Screenplay by	Evan Spiliotopoulos Bill Condon Stephen Chbosky
Based on	Disney's Beauty and the Beast by Linda Woolverton Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Starring	Emma Watson Dan Stevens Luke Evans Kevin Kline Josh Gad Ewan McGregor Stanley Tucci Ian McKellen Emma Thompson
Music by	Alan Menken[1]
Cinematography	Tobias A. Schliessler
Edited by	Virginia Katz
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures Mandeville Films
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates	March 17, 2017 (2017-03-17)
Country	United States
Language	English

Beauty and the Beast is an upcoming 2017 American romantic fantasy musical film directed by Bill Condon, produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. A Walt Disney Pictures production, the film is a live-action remake of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline and Josh Gad with the voices of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson. In the film, Belle is taken prisoner by a fearsome Beast in his enchanted castle and learns to look beyond his appearance while evading a narcissistic hunter who seeks to take Belle for himself.

Principal photography began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England on May 18, 2015, and ended on August 21. The film is to be released on March 17, 2017, in standard, Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats.^[2]

Plot

Belle is a young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast in his castle in exchange for the freedom of her father Maurice. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's exterior to recognize the true heart and soul of the human Prince within just as a hunter named Gaston is on the loose to take Belle for himself and hunt down the Beast at any cost.

Cast

• Emma Watson as Belle^[3]
• Dan Stevens as The Beast^[4][5]
• Luke Evans as Gaston^[6]
• Kevin Kline as Maurice^[7]
• Josh Gad as LeFou^[8]
• Ewan McGregor as Lumière^[9]
• Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza^[10]
• Audra McDonald as Garderobe^[11]
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette^[12]
• Ian McKellen as Cogsworth^[13]
• Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts^[7]
• Nathan Mack as Chip^[14]
• Hattie Morahan as Agathe^[15]

Production

Development

Previously in 2009, Disney began progress on a film adaptation of the 1994 Broadway musical.^[16][17] However, in a 2011 interview, composer Alan Menken stated the planned film version of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical "was canned."^[18]

In April 2014, it was reported that Walt Disney Pictures began developing a new live-action version and remake of Beauty and the Beast after making other live-action fantasy films such as Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book.^[19] On June 4, 2014, Bill Condon signed on to direct the film, which Evan Spiliotopoulos would write.^[20] 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/Ashman songs from the Broadway musical, with the intention of making the film as a "straight-forward, live-action, large-budget movie musical".^[21] In September 2014, it was announced that Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) would re-write the script.^[22] Menken will return to score the film's music, which will feature songs from the original film by him and Howard Ashman, plus new material written by Menken and Tim Rice.^[23] Menken said the film will not include songs that were written for the Broadway musical.^[24]

Casting

On January 26, 2015, Emma Watson announced that she would be starring as Belle, the female lead.^[3] On March 4, 2015, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens were revealed to be in talks to play Gaston and the Beast respectively,^[25][26] and Watson confirmed their casting the following day through tweets.^[4][6] Josh Gad was added to the cast on March 13, 2015, to play LeFou, Gaston's sidekick.^[8] Emma Thompson joined the cast on March 16, 2015, to play Mrs. Potts and Kevin Kline was announced to play Maurice, Belle's father.^[7] Audra McDonald was cast as Garderobe, the wardrobe, on March 27, 2015.^[11] Ian McKellen was cast on April 10, 2015, as Cogsworth, the Beast's loyal butler, who was cursed into a clock.^[13] On April 13, 2015, Gugu Mbatha-Raw was set to play Plumette, the feather duster.^[12] On April 21, it was announced that Ewan McGregor had joined the cast as Lumière, the candelabra,^[9] and later that same day, that Stanley Tucci would be playing Cadenza, a harpsichord, an original character created for the film.^[10][27]

Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle on Broadway, commented on the casting of Watson as "perfect".^[28] Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the original animated film and its sequels, offered to help Watson with her singing lessons.^[29]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began at Shepperton Studios in London on May 18, 2015.^[7][30][31] Filming with the principal actors concluded on August 21.^[32][33] Six days later, co-producer Jack Morrissey confirmed that the film had officially wrapped production.^[34]

Release

On March 16, 2015, Disney announced the film would be released in 3D on March 17, 2017.^[7] The first official presentation of the film took place at Disney's three-day D23 Expo in August 2015.^[35]

Marketing

Following an announcement on May 22, 2016,^[36] Disney premiered the first official teaser trailer on Good Morning America the next day.^[37] In its first 24 hours, the teaser trailer reached 91.8 million views, which topped the number of views seen in that amount of time in history, including for the teasers for other films distributed by Disney such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron.^[38] The first official teaser poster was released on July 7, 2016.^[39] On November 2, 2016, Entertainment Weekly debuted the first official image on the cover of their magazine for the week along with nine new photos as well.^[40][41] One week later, Emma Watson and Disney debuted a new poster for the film.^[42] On November 14, 2016, the first theatrical trailer was released again on Good Morning America.^[43] The trailer reached 127.6 million views in its first 24 hours, setting a new record as the trailer with the most views in one day, beating out Fifty Shades Darker.^[44]

References

External links

• Official website
• Beauty and the Beast at the Internet Movie Database