Disney has reportedly settled on who to cast as ‘Beast’ to pair up with Emma Watson, who has joined the live-action musical ‘Beauty and the Beast’ as Belle.
According to The Tracking Board , Disney had already been eyeing Ryan Gosling and has already made the offer to the ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ actor. Gosling has reportedly been offered with the lead role as he remains Disney’s ‘top choice.’
The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ musical is expected to be a remake of the animated classic from 1991. Bill Condon from ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn’ will take on directorial duties as Stephen Chbosky has penned the script.
Last January 26, Emma Watson shared a post on her Facebook account that she had been cast for a lead role in the live-action musical. The ‘Harry Potter’ star confirmed that she will take on the role of Belle and shared that the classic animated film “was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to Be Our Guest and sing Something There.”
She further went on to say: “My six-year-old self is on the ceiling – heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons.”
After Disney released the original animated film in 1991, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ went on to become a chart-topping hit at the box office and the first-ever animated movie to bag a nomination for best picture at the Oscars. Three of the film’s songs was also nominated for the Oscars with which its title song, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, won an award.
Based on Watson’s post, it is likely that the upcoming live-action musical will follow through Disney’s original film version wherein the songs were of great importance.
Disney has already attained considerable success in its previous film adaptations of classic animations, such as ‘Maleficent’ starring Angelina Jolie. Such adaptation of the 1959 ‘Sleeping Beauty’ version raked in $757 million in 2014 at the box office.
In 2016, Disney will also release a live-action adaptation of the ‘The Jungle Book’ with which Billy Murray and Ben Kingsley have already been cast. Although production has been scheduled to begin this 2015, an official release date is yet to be announced.
