As part of its ongoing move to turn its animated classics into CGI-stuffed live-action blockbusters, Disney has turned its attention from The Jungle Book towards Beauty & the Beast, with the first trailer showing how the House of Mouse has turned one of its most critically acclaimed cartoons into a lavish production.
A teaser released in May offered only a glimpse of Emma Watson’s Belle, who reportedly only took the role on the insistence that the character’s back story be altered slightly to turn Belle into the inventor her father was in the cartoon. Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens’ Beast and Like Evans’ Gaston also feature for the first time, along with the voices of Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellan, and Emma Thompson.
As the below trailer shows, Bill Condon’s update doesn’t seem to stray far from the storyline seen in the 1991 original, which became the first animated film to ever be nominated for ‘Best Picture’ at the Academy Awards. The 2017 version will still see Belle imprisoned in an enchanted castle by a cursed beast-man, with Stockholm Syndrome helping her ultimately fall in love with him.
Beauty & the Beast will be released in Irish cinemas on St Patrick’s Day, March 17th. Take a look at the trailer below:
