Just in case Disney wasn't successful enough with the likes of Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and their own animated movies (see: Zootopia and Frozen), the studio recently started producing live-action remakes of their most beloved classic films. The first few of these remakes (Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book) were runaway successes, each earning over $500 million worldwide. Jungle Book, the most recent of these films, just missed $1 billion worldwide, as it currently sits at $966 million. With the preceding films being such massive hits, it should come as no surprise that Disney decided to produce a live-action remake of, perhaps, the most beloved animated movie of all time: Beauty and the Beast.
The live-action remake, also titled Beauty and the Beast, stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter) as Belle, Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) as The Beast, and Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6) as Gaston. The film is set to be released on March 17, 2017 and just dropped its second trailer, which quickly set a new record for most first-day views. Now, much like its previous trailer, a side-by-side comparison has been created allowing viewers to see just how similar the live-action version is to the animated classic.
The MoviePilot video (above) runs through the most recent trailer, while presenting very similar (at time, the exact same even) scenes from the original movie by its side. The result is pretty stunning, showing that Disney did not just set out to remake their classic film, but rather, play homage to some of its most iconic sequences.
It should have been expected that the live-action adaptation would borrow scenes like Belle entering the castle, Gaston rallying the mob, and of course, the classic ballroom dance. But the side-by-side video above, quite remarkably, shows that there are sure to be a few more similarities between the two films. And while in some cases this would seem to suggest a lack of originality or creative liberty, in this case, it is most welcome. After all, Beauty and the Beast is such a beloved film that there is likely no shortage of people that would have hoped the the remake's script was identical (just dusted off).
Joining Watson, Stevens, and Evans in the remake are Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Josh Gad as LeFou, and Kevin Kline as Maurice. The film is directed by Oscar-winner Bill Condon (Mr. Holmes), with a script that Condon co-wrote with Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopolous - based heavily on Linda Woolverton's 1991 screenplay, of course. Between the star-studded cast, impressive trailers, and striking similarity to the classic film, Beauty and the Beast is certainly poised to be yet another Disney smash hit.
[vn_gallery name="Beauty and the Beast (2017) Images" id="835126"]
Source: MoviePilot
