Emma Watson Attached To Guillermo Del Toro-Produced ‘Beauty And The Beast’
Beauty and the Beastis one of the most-adapted stories out there, and as such already has two screen incarnations that are standouts in their respective realms: the Jean Cocteau version from 1946 and Disney’s 1991 animated version.
We might soon add one more new version to the pile, and indeed to the mountain of projects being developed byGuillermo del Toro. The writer/director/producer is working on a newBeauty and the Beast, and hasEmma Watsonset to star. (Not as the Beast, one would expect.)
ComingSoontalked to producerDenise Di Noviwhile she was promotingCrazy, Stupid, Love, and she said that the adaptation is coming together now. Such a lack of respect for the most recent screen version of the story,Beastly! Wait, that movie was garbage. No respect necessary.
As she’s been busy for the past decade onHarry Potter, Emma Watson has done little screen work outside of that series: only a voice gig onThe Tale of Desperauxand a role in a BBC film for television. She has shot parts inMy Week With MarilynandThe Perks of Being a Wallflower, which we can expect to see later this year and sometime in 2012, respectively.
As forBeauty and the Beast, the fact of the film being developed is all we’ve got right now. While we don’t know the identity of the screenwriter, or indeed if anyone has written a script at this point, the fact of Guillermo del Toro’s involvement suggests that this will be a darker version than most. Perhaps something closer to the Jean Cocteau version, which has already influenced a legion of filmmakers? And withHarry Potterclosed, Emma Watson is sure to be in demand, so there is serious incentive to lock up her participation and get the project moving forward now. We could very likely hear more about this later in the week from Comic Con.
