A lot of developments have been going on with Disney's new live action movie Beauty and the Beast, and all the major characters have already been assigned to several well-known actors.
Now, the movie also boasts of Oscar-winning Emma Thompson and Kevin Kline who will portray Mrs. Potts and Belle's doting father Maurice, respectively, reported Screen Rant.
Harry Potter alum and UN Goodwill Ambassadress Emma Watson was first to be cast as the bookish and beautiful Belle, who will be forced to live with the Beast played by Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) because of her father's mistake.
The arrogant Gaston who has eyes for Belle will be played by Luke Evans, who also portrayed Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit trilogy. His loyal yet dim-witted sidekick will be played by Josh Gad, recognizable for his role in voicing the upbeat and lovable snowman Olaf in Disney's most popular animated film Frozen.
Oscar-winning Bill Condon will be writing and directing the film. His adaptation will use most of the songs of Disney's 1991 animated film, such as "Be Our Guest" created by Alan Menken and the late Oscar winner Howard Ashman.
Condon's Beauty and the Beast will also feature new songs written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice, who was also responsible for songs in Aladdin and The Lion King.
Thompson and Kline have plenty of experience in theatre performance and will no doubt work their magic into Disney's live action movie. Thompson has already played Mrs. Lovett in the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, while Kline is a Tony-award winning Broadway star since the late 1970s.
Aside from the cast news, the movie has already been given an official production and release date. The crew will start filming in London this May, while the release date has been set on March 17, 2017.
It has been set two years after Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella adaptation and eleven months after Jon Favreau's live action Jungle Book. Moreover, it will be seven years after Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which starred Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway.
Alice in Wonderland was Disney's first live action remake of one of their beloved animated films, and it was such a huge success that Disney went on giving a fresh spins to old and familiar tales.
Another expected live-action remake is about the big-eared and flying elephant Dumbo, which will also be directed by Burton.
