'Beauty and the Beast' actor Sir Ian McKellen admitted his shock at the astounding reception for the upcoming live-action adaptation. The Tony Award-winner is playing Cogsworth, an animated pendulum clock. Original composer Alan Menken returns to contribute his music to the latest adaptation.
According to Stuff.co.nz, Disney has released its current line-up of films in the coming years including the newest live-action adaptation of the classic animated film, 'Beauty and the Beast'. It joins the roster of much-anticipated Disney films for 2017 including 'Cars 3', 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2', 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales', 'Thor: Ragnarok' and 'Coco'. Emma Watson stars opposite Dan Stevens in their respective lead roles as Belle and the Beast.
The adaptation of the classic French fairytale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont will echo the original 1991 release in that it will also feature songs from the first animated film. Alan Menken, the Oscar-winning composer of the original Disney full-feature film, is returning to lend his magic to the newest adaptation for 'Beauty and the Beast'. According to Hypable, he has written three brand new songs made especially for the live-action film.
Menken was responsible for the music in the 1991 release and has also written for Broadway adaptations. Two of the three new tracks are entitled 'Forever More' and 'Days in the Sun'; the third is yet to be revealed. Menken admitted, "[The film includes] only the songs from the movie, and we did not fit in any of the songs [from the Broadway show]."
Meanwhile, Sir Ian McKellen revealed that he had no idea how highly anticipated the newest adaptation was. According to Vanity Fair, the Tony-award winning actor confessed, "It is astonishing to me how many people tell me that the animated version of Beauty and the Beast is their favorite film of all time and they can't wait for this... The anticipation is more than it was even for the filming of The Hobbit book after Lord of the Rings, so I'm very lucky to be involved." McKellen is portraying Cogsworth, Beast's loyal Majordomo cursed to live life as an animated pendulum clock.
McKellen is renowned for his work on several critically-acclaimed films, television series and miniseries as well as theater productions. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role as Gandalf in 'The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring', won the Tony Award for his work on 'Amadeus', nominated for various Primetime Emmy Awards for 'The Prisoner' and 'King Lear', and won the Golden Globe awards for his role on 'Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny' among others. He is also a frequent collaborator of 'Beauty and the Beast' director Bill Condon.
'Beauty and the Beast' is scheduled to be released on March 17, 2017. It stars Watson, Stevens, McKellen, Luke Evans, Evan McGregor, Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci. It is written for the big-screen by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Stephen Chbosky and is based on the original screenplay by Linda Woolverton.
Join the Conversation