“Beauty and the Beast” Director Discusses Adaptation, Filming

This past week, director Bill Condon, who is heading Disney’s new live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson, sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss his work. Evidently, the filming of this project has been quite the experience! According to Condon,

We’re actually here in Belle’s poor provincial town right now, corralling an angry mob, which has always been a dream of any Frankenstein fan

He also discussed how this film will be different from the beloved animated movie and the popular Broadway show:

I wouldn’t say we’re changing the story so much as sort of making connections that in a lot of cases were right under the surface. Honestly, there are so many people who love the original film and love the Broadway show, and they’ve had two decades now to pick them apart and point out big questions… we looked at those and said… ‘That’s an excellent point, why don’t these townspeople know anything about this huge castle that’s like a mile away from their village?’

He also hinted at what is probably the most iconic scene from the animated movie, the ballroom dance sequence to the title song. Condon confirmed it was one of the first scenes shot for the film and called it “magical.” He also said that audiences will “believe a beast can waltz.”

In addition, at Disney’s D23 Expo earlier this week, a preview of the film was released. Several sources confirmed  via Twitter that the film will indeed be a musical and that Emma will be wearing the iconic yellow Belle dress! Emma also recorded a special message for the expo, in which she claimed playing Belle was “a complete dream come true.”

Beauty and the Beast is set to be released in 2017, with Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, and Ian McKellen starring alongside Emma Watson.

Are you excited to see Emma become a Disney princess? Let us know in the comments!