‘Beauty and the Beast’ to Get the Live-Action Treatment From ‘Twlight’ Director Bill Condon
Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' will be the next animated movie re-imagined as a live-action film. The bright spot is that it will be directed by Bill Condon, who's won an Oscar, on top of being the helmer of the final two 'Twilight' films.
Condon, who could use a hit after last year's 'The Fifth Estate,' will be working with a script written by Evan Spiliotopoulos (who previously scripted the direct-to-video animated sequels 'Tarzan 2' and 'The Jungle Book 2'), according to Variety. They also point out what is obvious: 'Maleficent' opened to $70 million this weekend domestically and $170 million worldwide, which -- after it, 'Snow White and the Huntsman' and 'Alice in Wonderland' -- points out there's a huge market for these re-imaginings of classic Disney films, something Disney is well aware of considering their forthcoming live-action movies based on 'Cinderella' and 'The Jungle Book.'
It's fair to assume that Bill Condon, who won his Oscar for the screenplay for 'Gods and Monsters,' will likely bring out some of the Gothic elements of the material, though it's just as likely he'll keep it a musical (he did direct 'Dreamgirls'). He may also take elements from the 1946 Jean Cocteau film, but there's many versions of the story to draw from (including 2011's tween-centric version 'Beastly'). We'd guess that Condon will rework the screenplay, and the film will target a late 2016 release.