"Beastly": A Modern Beauty and the Beast

[Escapay]

Whilst preparing dinner tonight with the siblings, our conversation somehow drifted into a blurb that Jane read in a magazine. Apparently, Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical, Bandslam, and...nothing much else) is to play Belle (well, the "Beauty" character) in a new version of Beauty and the Beast. The three of us (Jane, me, Kram) were all pretty skeptical about the idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we shouldn't judge the movie before it's made.

I promptly forgot about it until a few minutes ago, so I decided to do some searching and found some stuff about it on wikipedia and imdb. This new version of the Beauty and the Beast story is called Beastly, and is based on a 2007 novel, which is a modern version of the story set in New York City (hey, didn't they do this from 1987 to 1990? ). The plot summary for the novel sounded interesting on wikipedia, so I think I'll borrow it from the library. And based on what I read at wikipedia about the upcoming movie (July 30, 2010), it doesn't seem so bad anymore. I mean, just the mere fact that it has NEIL PATRICK HARRIS in a supporting role is enough for me to forgive them for casting Vanessa Hudgens. And who knows, maybe even Hudgens will surprise me too and prove she more than just a pretty face. I'm looking forward to this film (I'll likely blindbuy it), but with reservations. The Beauty and the Beast fairy tale is one of my favourites, so I'd hate to see them screw it up.

If this were a Disney-produced film, I'm fairly certain there will already be loads of backlash ("WTF! Disney's gonna bastardize one of their classics with a live-action modern version! How dare they?!?!"), so a part of me is glad that it's being done by CBS films (whose also remaking My Fair Lady). But I'm sure there will immediately be comparisons between this and the Disney version (despite the fact that the Disney version is not the first version of the fairy tale, nor is it the be-all end-all version). It seems more akin to modern-twists-on-classic-stories like Disney's own The Sorcerer's Apprentice (which comes out two weeks before Beastly...hmm.)

Anyway, the film will be directed by Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland) and features the following cast:

* Alex Pettyfer as Kyle Kingson - the "Beast'. He was excellent in Tom Brown's Schooldays, but I haven't seen anything else of his, and that movie was 4 years ago.

* Vanessa Hudgens as Linda Taylor - the "Beauty". If you do well in this movie, Vanessa, I'll take back half of the insults I've ever said about the High School Musical franchise.

* Mary-Kate Olsen as Kendra Hilferty - the "Enchantress". I was surprised when I read this too. But the Olsen twins (technically, the Olsen girl) can really act when they want to, so she may surprise me.

* Neil Patrick Harris as Will Fratalli - the Lumiere, Cogsworth, & Mrs. Potts, apparently. It's DOOGIE HOWSER and BARNEY STINSON and DOCTOR HORRIBLE!

* Lisa Gay Hamilton as Zola - the other Lumiere, Cogsworth, & Mrs. Potts, apparently. I loved her in "The Practice", though unfortunately, that's all I really know her for.

* Peter Krause as Rob Kingson - Beasty's dad. He was in "Six Feet Under" and "Dirty Sexy Money".

* Dakota Johnson as Sloane Hagen - no idea.

* Erik Knudsen as Trey Parker - no idea.

Here's a few pictures that were released for the movie:



albert

[PeterPanfan]

I heard about this a few months ago, and really want to read the book before this movie comes out.

Of coruse, I'll be seeing it for NPH. And maybe M-K Olsen.

[blackcauldron85]

I also heard about this a few months ago. Here's an ET peak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbHnWuHcLwE

Here's a short video that tells a little of the plot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8AeVHkQJxI

Even shorter video with Vanessa talking about her beastly costar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlBr4LND-ZI

[UmbrellaFish]

I first heard about this through the Jim Hill Media article a couple months ago, and I'm sort of excited. I'll have to read the book before I watch the movie, and if it's too Twilight-esque, I'll skip out on this one.

Now My Fair Lady I'll be seeing, especially if they get you-know-who a role.

[rs_milo_whatever]

I've read the book, it's pretty interesting but I don't know if it requires a film adaptation. Either way, I recommend the book. Weird thing is that the "beauty" character is supposed to be plane in this book, and Vannessa Hudgens is very pretty and is not a normal kind of face..stunt casting, I guess. Will this be made for TV? I'm not saying I wouldn't pay to watch this because I did enjoy the book, but it just doesn't seem like a movie that would be very successful.

[dingding]

I never heard the beauty and the best but I have seen the cartoon beauty and beast I think the movie is the same as this version,but withmore PG rating that child not allowed to see it ,, may be

Seinfeld The Complete Series

[Dream Huntress]

The look the guy will have when he's cursed, I don't know, it supposed to be threatening, but there's something a bit off. Well, at least he's not fluffy, that would had been a lot more complicated.

[Disney Duster]

Yea, I hope he looks uglier when he's cursed in the film. He just looks like a guy who's really tough and got a lot of badass scars and tattoos...it would be easy for any pretty girl to fall for him...you can still see his cute face underneath it all!

[AladdinFan]

I was excited to seeing this film until I read that Beastly got moved from July 30, 2010 to March 18, 2011 because of Zac Efron's Charlie St. Cloud film. I prefered that Beastly stayed and Charlie St. Cloud moved because Beastly looks like a great film.

MTV News:
http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/06/0 ... ease-date/

More info on the delayed date:
http://www.thewrap.com/article/cbs-film ... 170?page=1

[blackcauldron85]

No!!! I'm really looking forward to Beastly- I just watched a new trailer the other day, and it looks amazing. So good. I mean, I guess it makes sense to move one of the films, if they don't want to compete for teens' money, since some people can only afford to see one film, but still. I guess they figure that Zac will be the winner if they have to compete. I hadn't even heard about Charlie St. Cloud until yesterday when my friend said that she's excited for it...

[UmbrellaFish]

I first heard about this through the Jim Hill Media article a couple months ago, and I'm sort of excited. I'll have to read the book before I watch the movie, and if it's too Twilight-esque, I'll skip out on this one.

Now My Fair Lady I'll be seeing, especially if they get you-know-who a role.

Well, I have since read the book and I thought it was okay. Okay enough to check out the flick, and now after watching the trailer on YouTube, I am a little bummed that the release date has been pushed back.

I do have one problem... In the book, Kyle/Adrian turns into a real beast, an animal. In this movie, he just turns into a sort of street punk. I guess I understand that Prettyfer won't have the same sex appeal if he's dressed up as a wolf for half the film, and they think teenage girls will be attracted to him during both parts of the film if he looks more human, but the problem is, that makes the blind tutor (NPH's role) a little unnecessary because Kyle's dad is supposed to go through a long process to find somebody who won't be able to see Kyle's appearance, thus the blind tutor comes in...

But in the book Kyle wasn't even human. In the movie, he most certainly is, just not "pretty".

[Disney Duster]

That's another problem I have. The guy still has quite a handsome face. He just is bald and has tattoos. Tattoos! A lot of girls find that very attractive or hot! Yes, unusual, edgy, sometimes "weird" girls, but still! Hell, even the baldness is something skinheads and "cool" guys do. This was a poor, half-assed attempt to uglify him.

Though to me that's the point, a human shouldn't love an animal, so I like that he's not an animal...but he's not really ugly either. Fail. I mean, I know she sees he has a human soul and isn't really an animal, but, still. A compromise would have been making him kind of half-wolf, have the hair and snout, paws or claws, tail, and that's about it. Then again girls are into werewolves. Twilight and Teen Wolf and all the half-wolf romances before...

[blackcauldron85]

Zac Efron And Vanessa Hudgens Call Release-Date Shuffle 'Disappointing'
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/164397 ... tory.jhtml

I think that both movies look really good...I probably will end up just renting both of them...