In case you’ve been living under a rock and with headphones pumping quaint showtunes into your braincase, there’s a live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast on its way… and the first trailer finally here.
The film is part of Disney’s recent efforts to jolt new life out of its classic animated holdings by remaking each one as a “live action” spectacle. Hollywood veteran Bill Condon is at the helm, and in this first peek we get to witness Dan Stevens’ Beast in all his CGI splendour. The effect is satisfyingly believable, much to the relief of die-hard Disney aficionados. Emma Watson, co-stars as the beautiful Belle, and is clad in the same dress imagined in the 1991 animated original.
In the trailer, Belle’s father, Maurice, is imprisoned for cutting a white rose from the Beast’s garden, and event that triggers “a tale as old as time”. Belle then comes to the castle to find him. The visuals look promising, Mrs Potts, Chip, Lumiere and Cogsworth are all present and correct, and Luke Evans is perfectly cast as the greedy Gaston, pitching his fork to “Kill the Beast!” in the trailer. Backed by Alan Menken’s original score which has been boosted with some new elements, we’re just as impatient as Gaston is to watch the full film when it is released in March 2017.
Published 15 Nov 2016
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