We cannot wait to see what Disney does with their new live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
The much buzzed about production, directed by Chicago director Bill Condon, stars Emma Watson as Belle, Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as Le Fou. The star-studded cast also includes Ewan McGregor, Sir Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and so many more.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Plumette.
"I do [sing]. It's so exciting," Mbatha-Raw told me while promoting the new Civil War drama Free State of Jones (in theaters on June 23), adding, "A lot of my character is animated so I was only on set a couple of days. But, they were magical days. I mean, we were in London and you've got Ewan McGregor [as] my dance partner and we're ballroom dancing around this Disney ballroom!"
The 1991 animated version of the movie starred Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson in the title roles. It not only grossed $425 million worldwide, but it was the first animated film to be nominated for the Oscar for best picture. It eventually went home with Academy Awards for best original score and best original song for the title track.
The new version, Mbatha-Raw gushed is "everything you'll expect and more." She then went on to describe Gad and Evans as "just so hilarious."
"It's got all the magic and the romance of the original but it's also very funny," she said.
The movie doesn't hit theaters until March 17, 2017. A teaser trailer for the top-secret project was released last month but it didn't show much except for Watson's eyes and eyebrows as she discovers the magical rose. We also hear the voices of McGregor and McKellan.