Beauty and the Beast

‘Beauty and the Beast’ has had a handful of adaptations, from both live-action and animation to the stage. But since filmmakers now have the ability to give the fairy tale a proper visual effects treatment, we’re getting two new live-action versions, and the trailer for one has arrived.

Emma Watson’s most recent movie might have been an epic flop in U.K. theaters last weekend, but I have a hunch that her next film might be a wee bit bigger. Just a smidge.

“Ever just the same. Ever a surprise.” One imagines those lyrics from “Beauty and the Beast” will apply particularly well to this new version of Disney’s animated classic, coming to theaters next year.

We’ve seen Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken take on DC superheroes a multiverse of times, including three separate specials, but The CW has finally earned itself a place as well. A new clip from Sunday’s outing sees both Arrow and The Flash going stop-motion for Robot Chicken, as well as a host of other sexy CW series.

It seems as though audiences aren’t the only ones taken with Disney’s new live action offerings, as the studio has been attracting some wonderful talent for their upcoming projects. So far, Beauty and the Beast has assembled a rather charming cast, including Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Sir Ian McKellen. Disney has just added another charming name to that roster: Ewan McGregor.

This live-action Beauty and the Beast movie is assembling a rather impressive cast so far: Emma Watson is playing Belle opposite Dan Stevens’ hunky Beast, which is exciting enough before you even get to the supporting cast. Joining our two leads now is Sir Ian McKellen — your favorite Magneto and mine — as Cogsworth, the castle’s butler who is transformed into a talking clock.

Following their surprisingly delightful live-action version of Cinderella, it’s fair to say that our interest in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast has grown quite a bit. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens have been cast as Belle and the Beast, respectively (although…), with a supporting cast that already includes Josh Gad and Luke Evans. And now two more great names have signed on for the fairy tale retelling: Emma Thompson and Kevin Kline.

Dan Stevens has quickly become kind of a big deal, and for good reason—the guy has immense charisma and superhero-quality good looks. After turning in great performances in The Guest and A Walk Among the Tombstones, the actor has been picking up high profile supporting gigs left and right. But his latest job is the biggest yet: Disney has chosen Stevens to portray the titular Beast in their live-action update of Beauty and the Beast.

It’s an undisputed scientific fact that Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston is the greatest villain in the Disney animated canon. After all, we’re talking about a guy whose theme song is all about how many eggs he eats and how every last inch of him is covered in hair. Sorry Maleficent, you have nothing on this guy. So, the news that Luke Evans has been cast as Gaston in Disney’s upcoming live action take on Beauty and the Beast has us feeling awfully judgmental. Sure, Evans is a good actor, but is he Gaston good?

Disney has had a lot of success turning their animated classics into live-action updates in recent years. ‘Maleficent’ grossed more than $750 million worldwide after ‘Alice in the Wonderland’ made over $1 billion. Another, fleshier ‘Cinderella’ is on its way this spring, and after that you can also expect a human-y ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ That film is expected to go into production later this year, and will be directed by ‘Twilight’’s Bill Condon from a script by Stephen Chbosky.