UPDATES: Emma Thompson is confirmed as Mrs. Potts. Kevin Kline will play Belle’s father, Maurice. There will be some CGI used. And “Beauty and the Beast” release date is March 17, 2017.
Making many of 2015’s entertainment headlines are the casting announcements for Disney’s 2016 live-action version of their Oscar-winning 1991 animated classic “Beauty and the Beast”, which just happens to be my all-time favorite film. So, needless to say, I am both cautious and anxious to see what’s in store. The director is Bill Condon, whose credits include “Dreamgirls”, and more recently, the last two “Twilight” films and “The Fifth Estate”. Hopefully he can get back on track with a unique and spectacular retelling of this “Tale as Old as Time”.
As the world knows by now, “Harry Potter” superstar Emma Watson will play as Belle. She’s a very good choice, though Watson has admitted that she is “terrified” to sing, and has been working with a vocalist for months. Fellow “Potter” alum Timothy Spall is rumored to play Belle’s father, Maurice. Dan Stevens, most recently seen as Lancelot in “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”, will play the Beast, and Luke Evans from “The Hobbit” trilogy and “Dracula Untold” is confirmed as Gaston.
This week the cast got even stronger with the addition of “Frozen” and “Book of Mormon” Tony nominee Josh Gad being tabbed to play Gaston’s right-hand man, LeFou. With Gad’s star status on the rise, expect the role of LeFou to be expanded for the film.
But what about the non-human (for most of the story) characters such as Lumiere, Cogsworth and all the other enchanted objects? Most likely they are not going to be CGI. Disney has neither confirmed nor denied it, but Emma Thompson is said to currently be in negotiations to play (not voice) Mrs. Potts. She’s an excellent choice, and would surely would be able to do a memorable rendition of the title song (which Angela Lansbury almost turned down performing in the original). But, somehow, I can’t picture Thompson in a giant teapot costume, or putting on a lot of weight for the human version.
Part of me would love to see Lansbury in the role, that it may be too taxing for her at this point. Here are my picks for the roles yet to be announced:
– Lumiere: Jean Dujardin
– Cogsworth: Zach Galifianakis
– Chip: Jaeden Lieberher (“St.Vincent”)
We’ll find-out very soon if I nail any of these. Filming is set to begin in London in May. And Disney has a lot on the line here, considering the successes of “Maleficent” and “Cinderella”. And I can’t help wondering – What in the world is this “Be Our Guest” going to look like?