According to Hitfix, Disney has hired director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey) to direct a big budget, live action musical remake of 1991's Beauty and the Beast. The new version will draw from the old movie and the Broadway adaption that ran from 1994-2007, and will be including most of the iconic Alan Menken/Howard Ashman songs. It's not exactly hard to believe, since that seems to be the new trend, adapting or reinventing the studio's animated classics, but to do a flat out live action remake of what's still their all time best animated film? Ugh- all the household objects are going to be CG, aren't they? Can you imagine CG versions of Lumiere, Cosgrove and Mrs. Potts roaming around? I'm dubious about this already, even though it's apparently Bill Condon's passion project, and keeping it a musical was part of his pitch to the studio. I just hope the Beast is a guy in a costume and not CG himself, but I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up. This movie could never be as great as the original, no matter what they do. Any casting thoughts for Belle?
