Ever since Tim Burton adapted the wacky world of Wonderland with his own brand of weirdness, Disney has been remaking their animated classics into live-action features. The 3D spectacular, Alice In Wonderland released to mixed reviews, but grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it a firm foundation for any future re-tellings. Two princess movies have seen similar remake treatment since then, with Maleficent approaching the story of Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the villain, while Cinderella followed the source material more closely. Jon Favreau’s adaptation of The Jungle Book has arguably been the high point of the roster of remakes thus far, having made Disney just shy of another $1 billion dollars worldwide. Looking to emulate the success of another Princess classic comes the highly anticipated Beauty and the Beast which stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as Belle and the cursed prince.
Beauty and the Beast follows the story of Belle, an inquisitive girl in rural France who becomes indentured to the Beast, a cursed lord who lives with his similarly enchanted servants. A trailer has already been released for the movie, re-introducing several beloved characters, but a new poster revealed by Disney has assembled the chief members of the cast in all their human pomp and finery.
Comic Book Movie is reporting that a new trailer or TV spot will debut tonight during the Golden Globes. Whether it will contain any new footage is uncertain, but Disney has been spoiling fans since the winter holidays frame, having recently released an audio clip of Emma Watson singing in-character.
What’s immediately striking about the poster is the presence of characters such as Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Pots, played by Ewan McGregor, Sir Ian McKellan, and Emma Thompson respectively. The first trailer offered a brief glimpse of these servants in their animated guises, but the poster reveals them as humans in full costume. In the animated film, the servants are transformed back into humans during the closing moments, but it’s possible that audiences will get to see more of the human forms of these eccentric characters in the upcoming remake. Each live-action re-telling so far has expanded upon or outright transformed the mythologies of the original movies to varying degrees, with Maleficent drastically challenging the source material’s iconic true love’s kiss. The cast list of Beauty And The Beast suggests that a similar move could be on the cards with the tale as old as time.
Hattie Morahan will be playing the Enchantress who curses the Beast, a scene which plays out as a narrated prologue in the original. This could easily be expanded in order to humanize Prince Adam, who was originally portrayed as little more than a petulant noble. Belle’s Mother will also appear in some form in the film, played by Zoe Rainey. Her role in the story is uncertain, but Belle’s absent mother has always been something of a mystery for fans, with some theories connecting her to the very Enchantress who curses the Beast.
Source: Comic Book News
- Beauty and the Beast Release Date: 2017-03-17
