Emma Watson was first attached to a live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast” all the way back in 2011. Guillermo del Toro was the director at that point, and Warner Bros. was set as distributer. Four years later, Watson is still set to play Belle, but at a different studio and for a different filmmaker. As first reported by TheWrap, and then confirmed by Disney, the former “Harry Potter” star will play Belle in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a live-action film from director Bill Condon.
The new film is a reunion of sorts for Watson. The script was written by Stephen Chbosky, who directed the 24-year-old actress in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” (As TheWrap notes, Evan Spiliotopoulos wrote the initial draft of the script.)
