Emma Watson Is Starring In Disney’s Live Action Remake Of ‘Beauty And The Beast’, And The Internet Is Freaking Out

In news that might make your inner child squeal with delight, all round wonderful human Emma Watson has been cast as Belle in Disney’s live action remake of Beauty And The Beast.

Rumours surrounding the possible remake started in 2013, but today’s announcement is the first official confirmation the the project is going ahead, with production due to begin later this year. No official release date has been set, but we’ve heard from a reliable source* that it may look something like this:

*Reliability not guaranteed.

For those of you unable to remember the plot, it features some catchy musical numbers, a kickass library and this:

Emma Watson will star in a movie about Stockholm Syndrome, and a magic cup that was obviously dropped on his head #BeautyAndTheBeast #chip

— Matt Berry X929 (@MattX929) January 26, 2015

While the announcement has made some people’s fan fiction dreams come true, the real quality content is coming from speculation over who will play the other main characters.  

#BeautyAndTheBeast casting suggestions: Neil Patrick Harris as Lumiere, Henry Cavill as Gaston, Josh Gad as Lefou, Hugh Jackman as Beast. — Joey O’Hern (@joeyohern) January 26, 2015

Many Harry Potter fans have taken to Twitter, inevitably calling for the casting of Malfoy as the Beast, in what can only be described as a deep-rooted need for the Potter franchise to continue indefinitely.

So, is this the right time to start praying for Tom Felton to play Beast? #BeautyAndTheBeast

— ava (@_wh0sbad) January 26, 2015

And not one to miss an opportunity for crappy-quality photoshopping, Slate has produced a couple of mock-ups that are pretty on point — including my personal favorite of Channing Tatum as Gaston:

Although casting Angela Lansbury as Mrs Potts again would be amazing for all sorts of reasons, you really can’t go past this beautiful prediction of what Amy Poehler would look like as Chip:

Killing it.

The film will follow several recent remakes of Disney classics, including Maleficent and Cinderella, which is out later this year. Though in true Disney/Potter fan style, the conspiracy theories are already going strong:

Guys, I have a theory.. #KingdomHearts #disney #EmmaWatson #BeautyAndTheBeast pic.twitter.com/gkLRvid3rk

— Hero (@LastRPGHero) January 27, 2015

 

10,000 points to Gryffindor for speculation, and the inevitably awful tribute videos that will appear on YouTube over the coming months.

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