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.”
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