Disney is ditching the ink and going with actual humans for its next few film adaptations of some of its most beloved cartoon movies.
Coming hot off "Maleficent," which grossed $170 million worldwide in its opening weekend, Disney has reportedly tapped Bill Condon to direct a live-action version of "Beauty and the Beast." (Via Walt Disney Studios / "Beauty and the Beast")
Variety reports the animated "Beauty and the Beast," which debuted back in 1991, "grossed more than $375 million worldwide, spawned a Broadway play and became one of the few animated pics to receive a best picture Oscar nomination."
The task of bringing Belle and... uh... whatever his name is to the big screen seems right up Condon's alley.
Aside from directing two of the "Twilight" films, Condon also adapted the musical "Dreamgirls" and wrote the script to the adaptation of "Chicago." (Via Paramount Pictures / "Dreamgirls", Miramax Films / "Chicago)
Casting is still up in the air, but HitFix reports Condon will be drawing from not only Disney's animated version of "Beauty and the Beast" but also the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical version, which ran for 13 years. That's a lot of source material. (Via NETworks Presentations / "Beauty and the Beast")
"Beauty and the Beast" is the third movie in Disney's queue of upcoming live-action adaptations.
News has been trickling out about a Jon Favreau-directed "Jungle Book," that'll reportedly feature the voices of Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba and Lupita Nyong'o. (Via IMDb)
But wait, didn't Disney already put out a live-action version of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book"? Yes, but that didn't have talking animals or any "Bare Necessities" so, in my heart, it doesn't exist.
Let's see if you can guess this last movie adaptation... Still struggling? Well, you didn't have a childhood. Kenneth Branagh will direct Disney's upcoming "Cinderella" with Lily James starring as the title character.
No word on when we'll see Beast in pseudo-human form on the big screen, but "The Jungle Book" and "Cinderella" are set to be released sometime in 2015.
