On Monday May 23, the first trailer for the live action version of Beauty and the Beast premiered on Good Morning America.
This is the first teaser trailer for Disney’s live action remake of the acclaimed 1991 animated film, which was the first animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The film will join the ranks of Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book in Disney’s newest trend of making live action movies with their existing properties. Unlike the other remakes it seems that Beauty and the Beast will keep many of the songs from the original and remain a musical, which is helped by the fact that several of the cast members have a history with musical theater.
The trailer starts with a variation of the classic Disney logo but the castle is replaced by the Beast’s castle from the film. The silhouette of the Beast can also be seen in the window of the tallest tower. The inside of the castle is then shown with all of its grandeur and beauty fading away in a timelapse until it is in a state of complete disrepair. With the iconic image from original film of the Beast’s claw marks over the portrait for his former face. All of this is scored by the music used in the prologue of the original film.
The Beast’s Castle in the style of the Disney Logo
Then for the first time the audience gets to hear Ian McKellen as Cogsworth and Ewan McGregor as Lumière as they see and hear Belle enter the castle. She then see’s the Beast’s rose and as she examines it the first the audience is given the first glimpse of Emma Watson as Belle’s face. The title song plays as the audience is urged to use the hashtag #BeOutGuest, which is also the film’s twitter handle.
The inside of the Beast’s castle before it decays
The film was directed by Bill Condon who is familiar with movie musicals having written the screenplay to Chicago and directed Dreamgirls. The original composer Alan Menken will return to score the film while Tim Rice while provided the lyrics. Rice worked with Menken on the Broadway musical version of Beauty and the Beast. He took over for the original lyricist Howard Ashman who passed away shortly before the release of the original film which is dedicated to him.
The torn up portrait of The Beast’s human form
Beauty and the Beast is slated to be released on March 17, 2017. The film stars Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as The Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as LeFou, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, and Audra McDonald as Wardrobe.
