Beauty and the Beast (Live-Action)

[Sotiris]

This is really weird. Alan Menken said there are three new songs but only named two of them, Disney at the D23 Expo announced there will only be two new songs, Luke Evans also said there are two new songs, but Emma Watson said there are three. Get your story straight, people! I really do hope there are three so Belle can get another song.

In other news, Bill Condon said the movie will use elements from the Jean Cocteau version too.

But it's hard to neglect the elephant in Condon's room: he has just returned from a nine-month London shoot for the live-action musical movie Beauty and the Beast, which is based on the 1991 Disney animation and features Emma Watson as Belle and Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as the Beast. The director hopes to finish the first cut by Christmas. [...]

As he moves from tackling Stephenie Meyer's hugely popular franchise to one of Disney's most beloved classics, Condon could certainly learn from that baptism of fire when he courageously decided to shoot Beauty and the Beast as a fully musical movie.

"What's interesting when I was watching Cinderella is that I kept waiting for [the characters] to sing," he says of Disney's recent live-action makeover, "because it was so beautifully mounted. They just all wanted to start [singing]. It's almost like the movie wanted that."

For his own film, Condon is looking to use the entire original score, plus three new songs by Alan Menken. While he hasn't taken much from the Broadway version ("it really didn't seem to help that much on what we're up to"), he has drawn from Jean Cocteau's 1946 version, "which I love".

"I think in movies, the secret is that you can never stop," says Condon of his musicals. "You can never let a song just settle in; it's got to push the story forward. You have to be somewhere different at the end of a song than when you started." He continues, "When it works - and it's hard to make them work - I feel like it's such a heightened state you can reach. It's really fascinating because it's a high-wire act."

Source: http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-ente ... life-indie

[Disney Duster]

Argh! I want Belle to have a song, too! She'd better have one!

Also, the original animated film used some of Cocteau's film as inspiration, the filmakers said. So...I wonder how it will be even more Cocteau'ed?

I love that he said the 2015 Cinderella was beautiful though. But it didn't feel like it needed songs...

[estefan]

If Alan Menken is also composing the score, do you think he might include melodies from the Broadway musical songs? Or will Bill Condon veto any reference to the stage show? It just seems weird to me for the screenwriter of Chicago and director of Dreamgirls to not allow any elements from the Broadway musical.

[Disney's Divinity]

"What's interesting when I was watching Cinderella is that I kept waiting for [the characters] to sing," he says of Disney's recent live-action makeover, "because it was so beautifully mounted. They just all wanted to start [singing]. It's almost like the movie wanted that."

Probably for the best they didn't; Cinderella's songs aren't really as good as B&tB's, imo...

[Prince Edward]

I think live action versions of the more recent Walt Disney Animation Studios movies will be a better fit than the older movies in regards to keeping the original songs in the new live action movie adaptions. The Menken movies starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989 have more of a Broadway style compared to older films like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Alice in Wonderland. I'm happy that Helena Bonham Carter and Lily James got to record some of the most iconic version from the animated Cinderella classic though.

And since the composers that worked on the more recent movies are still alive, they can make make new songs for any live action version. Just like Menken have made 3 new songs for Beauty and the Beast. I could easily see live action versions of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid being musicals. The music/songs is such an important part of those movies. The same could be said for Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, maybe even Hercules and Mulan. Although the songs play a bigger part in Pocahontas than they do in Mulan.

[Sotiris]

It just seems weird to me for the screenwriter of Chicago and director of Dreamgirls to not allow any elements from the Broadway musical.

I don't think that's coming from him considering that he went to Paris to study the stage musical that was held there and that insiders told us early on that the movie would include elements and songs from the Broadway show. I believe this was mandated by the studio; they wanted a live-action version of the animated film, not an adaptation of the Broadway musical.

[Sotiris]

An update from the music supervisor of the film, Michael Kosarin.

Q: Indeed, right now you’re working on the live-action film of Beauty And The Beast. Can you tell us a little about it?

Michael Kosarin: I’ve been working on that for over a year now, I guess. All the principal photography has been completed. Right now, we’re heading toward recording the first few songs for the film. The way we’ve been working on the film is that we record the vocals first to synth mock-ups. From that, we can change things like tempos. Obviously, when you’re in the digital realm, you can do all those things. And then we record the orchestra after that. So, we’re heading to London next month and we’re gonna have a 92-piece orchestra. Danny Troob has got the chance to re-invent his orchestrations for the existing songs. As for me, some of the0 most challenging, fun and rewarding things I’ve done have been to arrange the underscore for the shows that I’ve done with Alan. I’ve approached music from #1 – the dramatic point of view and #2 – the musical point of view. That’s what appeals to me so much in underscores. How do we accomplish this or that, or get from point A to point B and sound like it’s always been that way, from the dramatic, emotional point of view? And so Alan let me do this for the first time on a film, helping him write some of his underscore. So, right now I’m tackling the songs and the interstitial music on the songs. And that’s what’s occupying most of my days right now!

Source: http://animatedviews.com/2016/the-hunch ... interview/

[Disney Duster]

Cool, but, are they saying they can change the tempo after the actors sang in a different tempo? That can't be right. They must mean they can change the tempos with the actors before they do the orchestrations.

I'm so excited for this movie...

[Sotiris]

An update from Alan Menken.

Q: Coming up is the Beauty and the Beast live-action movie that will be released in 2017. What stage is that at and how's that experience been?

Alan Menken: It's been a wonderful experience. It's a further evolution of what we started with the animated picture and then come to Broadway and now Bill Condon is directing and co-writing the movie. It's very much the core story but expanded with elements that give it a little more backstory. I have some new songs I'm writing for that. Right now, the stage it's in... The studio's seeing it, there's a lot of enthusiasm. We're actually have our first recording session coming up in a couple of weeks. Then we'll be doing a lot of the scoring and recording over the next three to six months. Then there's going to be a lot of working on CGI and other elements. We're all very excited.

Source: http://atthehayes.libsyn.com/ep-10-alan ... vor-ashley

Bill Condon is directing, and we’ve written three new songs, but I’m not allowed to say much more than that. I am in the thick of it right now, that much I can say. A music editor, Chris Benstead, is in my studio right now, and I’m writing cues and he’s orchestrating them. We have a little factory going.

Source: https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/int ... ats-death/

“But, first,” he says, “we’re going to put the finishing touches on the score for the Beauty and the Beast live-action movie, which will include three new songs with lyrics by Tim Rice.” From animation to Broadway to live action, that’s an awful lot of miles he has gotten out of Beauty and the Beast. He nods. “I know.”

Source: http://observer.com/2016/07/alan-menken ... new-world/

Meanwhile, on a more serious note, Menken finds himself coming full circle with Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” live-action adaptation directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens (opening March 17, 2017). In addition to scoring the music, Menken and Tim Rice have written three new songs, including “Days in the Sun,” in which the enchanted objects remember being human, and “Forever More,” in which Stevens’ Beast rejoices about falling in love. “I don’t mind the gift [that keeps on giving], but I’m a very hands-on guy and if they want to add songs, then I have to be involved,” Menken noted.

Source: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/alan-m ... 201702911/

[Disney Duster]

I expected this to take so long because of the CG needed, but it seems the recording is what needs a lot of time too. I love hearing that it will be "an expansion" of the original film, and the backstory!

[Sotiris]

Don Hahn talks about the film.

He also let us know a little more about the very under wraps live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast that’s set for release in 2017. Belle is one of the most popular Disney Princesses and when we asked Hahn how she might be updated in the next feature to reflect this generation, he generously tip-toed around specifics. “The original Beauty and the Beast, we were really conscious of making Belle a person who was not waiting to live her life when her prince showed up. The same with Maleficent, we really wanted to make those characters living, breathing real people and not so dependent. It’s a little too early to talk about the live-action Beauty and the Beast but I guarantee you that we’re all filmmakers and we love making films for our generation in our era and we want to make it appropriate for the audience. So that whole team who’s making Beauty and the Beast live action is very well aware of that.”

Since the announcement of the cast fans have been itching for more, specifically how they would pull off the more animated characters alongside the live action actors. Hahn described his enthusiasm about the ensemble, “We have Emma Watson playing Belle and this terrific cast with Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellan doing voices and being performers. It’s hard to go wrong. They’re all after the same great entertainment, good storytelling that’s appropriate for audiences today. The Beast is played by the coolest guy, Dan Stevens from Downtown Abbey who I love. It’s perfect because he’s got this amazing heart for the role and he can do drama and the darker side of it too. So I just can’t say enough about the cast and the filmmakers on that one.”

When asked whether the castle cast was present on set to do more of mo-cap performance or if they recorded separately, Hahn smiled, “I think you’ll be surprised and very happy with that way that it’s been handled.”

Source: http://thatsitla.com/don-hahn-beauty-and-the-beast/

Hahn is currently producing a live-action version of his 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast. “I love that film. I love the people that worked on it, and I have fun memories of it all,” he said. “But I also believe that as storytellers, it’s our job to reinvent a story and repurpose it for this generation.” Hahn said he wants to let the filmmakers of today retell the story and trusts director Bill Condon to take Hahn’s classic in a contemporary direction.

Source: http://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/arts-and ... -pinnacle/

[Sotiris]

The two Gastons have a sing-off!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTB0LjvKMwY[/youtube]

[Disney's Divinity]

Not important, but just wanted to say that Dan Stevens was at a BAFTA event for the end of Downton Abbey, and I must say he was looking pretty fine. Better than he ever looked on DA. I know he'll be in costume/CGIed for most of this movie, but I'm looking forward to him more now.

[Disney Duster]

Dan Stevens ain't really hot. But he doesn't need to be. He can still be selfish and into himself and think he's hot and Belle can end up with a guy who doesn't look hot and that would further teach the lesson of the tale.

As for those singing Gastons, the guy who's going to be this film's Gaston was...ummm...not as good as the original, or as Hugh Jackman, or as that guy who was LeFou for a second in that clip. This new Gaston only sang well when he sang "baaaarge." I'm, uh, rather worried he can't sing very well. At least he actually is hot like Gaston is supposed to be.

[Kyle]

So does this mean we'll get more practical fx work than expected? He was pretty vague but I cant tell if he's just giving a standard non answer or trying to let on that they are going against expectation of over done CG.

[Disney's Divinity]

Dan Stevens ain't really hot. But he doesn't need to be. He can still be selfish and into himself and think he's hot and Belle can end up with a guy who doesn't look hot and that would further teach the lesson of the tale.

... At least he actually is hot like Gaston is supposed to be.

I never thought he was attractive until I saw himat the BAFTA celebration; I was kind of shocked (in a good way). I think it has to do with the fact that he's lost weight and has facial hair now. Either way, our tastes are not the same, because the guy playing Gaston definitely isn't hot to me.

[Disney Duster]

Ah, he does look cute there. However I hope he doesn't have facial hair as the prince. And now that I think about it, he already played the prince so I guess he'll be thicker and have no hair in the film. I like thicker guys, so, yay for me.

And you don't think Gaston is hot? Well, that's alright. I hope you at least find him looking good enough to fit the role.

[Atlantica]

To have actual built sets would be just wonderful, instead of just effects effects effects ....

[robster16]

I created two pieces of fan art, one for Emma as Belle and one where I used a picture of Dan Stevens and gave him the basic look and facial structure of the beast in the animated feature. Hope you like them:

[Escapay]

Awesome illustrations, robster! I really liked how you integrated Stevens' features into the Beast.

that guy who was LeFou for a second in that clip.

That was Taron Egerton. He also starred in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and had a supporting role in Testament of Youth. Egerton's also on the shortlist of potential actors to play young Han Solo (earlier in the Jonathan Ross episode, they discuss it). Given that neither Anthony Ingruber nor Ansel Elgort are on that shortlist, I'm hoping he gets it.

Albert