Beauty and the Beast: Real-life film adaptation of the romantic fairytale classic. With “Harry Potter” star Emma Watson as Princess Belle.
Plot and background
Pretty Belle (Emma Watson) lives with her father in a small French village. When he becomes a prisoner in the eerie castle in the nearby forest, she sets out to rescue him. In the process, she herself becomes a prisoner of the master of the house (Dan Stevens), whom she does not get to see at first. When she catches sight of him, she is all the more shocked: he is a big hairy beast. But behind the creature’s daunting façade lies a sensitive heart.
With sensitivity and patience he lures Belle out of her reserve and tries to make her involuntary stay in his castle bearable, even enjoyable. For as it turns out, the beast has no evil intentions, as he is said to do in the village, but has a fairytale plan. In order to implement it, however, he must convince Belle to stay with him. Meanwhile, the village community, led by Belle’s beau Gaston (Luke Evans), sets about storming the enchanted castle to free Belle. But they misjudge the benign side of the beast and are unaware that Belle may never want to leave his castle.
Even the castle staff, who turn out to be the talking mug Mrs Potts and candlestick Lumière (voiced in the original English by Emma Thompson and Ewan McGregor), persuade her to stay – what lies behind the enchanted façade?
Background on “Beauty and the Beast “
The storyline, based on a French folk tale, has been filmed many times. Best known for Disney’s 1991 animated adaptation, this remake as a live-action musical features new compositions of well-known Disney songs such as “Be our Guest”, sung by the cast themselves. Lead actress Emma Watson took singing lessons for this. For the young British actress, the role of Belle fulfilled a childhood wish: as a six-year-old fan of the Disney film, she dreamed herself into the world of “Beauty and the Beast” and imitated her heroine Belle. In the interview, the British actress talks about her experiences from the set. Luke Evans, Stanley Tucci and Ian McKellen can be seen in the supporting roles.
Fans also seem to enjoy being transported back to childhood, as the first release of the film trailer broke records: with 91.8 million views in 24 hours, the “Beauty and the Beast” preview became the most viewed trailer of all time. And the first box-office figures for the film also know how to inspire. In the USA, “Beauty and the Beast” grossed 170 million dollars from a standing start and broke several records along the way. Worldwide, the Disney hit is now estimated to have grossed more than 700 million dollars.
Director and Oscar winner Bill Condon is known for the bestselling film adaptation “Breaking Dawn – Until(s) the End of the Night”. Before he ventured into the new production of the Disney musical classic with this film, he already gained experience in the musical film genre when he directed “Dreamgirls”.
