'Twilight' Director to Present Live-Action 'Beauty and the Beast'
by Shannon Keirnan
Can you handle it??
Disney will be bringing their classic animated tale "Beauty and the Beast" to the big screen once more... this time, in live action.
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" director Bill Condon has been hired in to direct, with veteran Disney writer Evan Spiliotopoulos on script. Mandeville Films is set to produce.
It's a sharp move for Disney. The beloved story, released in 1991, earned them a Best Picture nod at the Academy Awards, and was brought to Broadway in 1994. It has grossed over $375 million worldwide.
However, perhaps not a surprising move. Disney is bringing other animated classics to live action in the near future - notably "Cinderella," directed by Kenneth Branagh, and "The Jungle Book," directed by Jon Favreau.
"Alice in Wonderland" and "Oz" scored big cash for the company when they were released in live action. "Maleficent," the most recent Disney flick to feature actors, also brought in major bucks, debuting at number one and raking in over $170 million globally.
"Maleficent" was written, by the way, by Linda Woolverton, who also penned the script for the original "Beauty and the Beast." Fun fact.
So, with all that in mind, who would you choose to cast?