Ewan McGregor to Play Lumiere in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Ewan McGregor is in negotiations to play Lumiere in Disney’s live-action retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” that stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens.

Luke Evans is also on board and will play Gaston. Ian McKellen will play Cogsworth.

Bill Condon is directing, with David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Mandeville Films producing. The script was written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and rewritten by Steve Chbosky.

Production will begin later this year. The studio has set a March 17, 2017, release for the pic.

The studio’s 1991 animated feature version of “Beauty and the Beast” grossed more than $375 million worldwide, spawned a Broadway play and became one of the few animated pics to receive a best picture Oscar nomination. In that version, Lumiere was the charming and energetic butler/candlestick who is most famous for singing the tune “Be Our Guest.”

Disney has several reboots of classic tales on the horizon, including retellings of “The Jungle Book” “Mulan” and “Winnie the Pooh.”

Source: Variety

Emma Watson to Star in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Harry Potter actress Emma Watson has been cast as Belle in Disney’s upcoming live-action interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, to be directed by Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) and produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production is anticipated to begin later this year.

Though Watson had been attached to another version of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy tale at Warner Bros., that project stalled after director Guillermo del Toro dropped out last summer. Apparently Del Toro gave Watson his blessing to move on to Disney’s version, no doubt sweetened by the fact that the script was written by Stephen Chbosky, who directed Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The actress took to Facebook to announce the project to her fans:

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Post by Emma Watson.

Beauty and the Beast will be the latest in a string of live-action retellings of classic Disney animation the company has embarked upon, including Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent and the upcoming March 13 release Cinderella, as well as Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book which opens in April 15, 2016.

Source: ComingSoon.net