More casting news from Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming live-action remake of the classic animation Beauty and the Beast, with the studio adding another award-winning actress into the mix.
Variety is reporting that Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Jupiter Ascending) has joined the ever-expanding cast and will play Plumette, the feather duster from the original film.
Emma Watson (Harry Potter) and Dan Stevens (The Guest) will star as Belle and the Beast/Prince respectively, with Luke Evans (Dracula Untold) as Gaston, Josh Gad (Frozen) as Lefou, Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline (Last Vegas) as Belle’s father Maurice, Audra McDonald (Private Practice) as Garderobe and most recently Ian McKellen (X-Men: Days of Future Past) joined the line-up as Cogsworth.
The new version starts production in May at London’s Shepperton Studios, and will combine live-action and CGI to tell the story, with eight-tine Oscar-winner Alan Menken returning to the film after he scored and wrote the songs the original 1991 film. Menken will re-record the original songs as well as new ones he has co-written with Sir Tim Rice (The Lion King). Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directs the film from a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky (Perks of Being a Wallflower)
Beauty and the Beast is set for release March 17th, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnc360pUDRI&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&feature=player_embedded
Originally published April 14, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
