Alas, it seems Cinderella's glass slipper wasn't the right fit for Emma Watson. Less than two weeks after the actor was said to be in talks to star in the planned film, the Bling Ring star has reportedly decided not to star in Disney's live action adaptation of Cinderella.
Late last month, we learned that Watson was in talks for the lead in Disney's planned Cinderella, which has Cate Blanchett on board to play the wicked stepmother. It looks like negotiations didn't work out, as Variety's Marc Graser, who originally broke the news that Watson might take the lead, has since Tweeted that she "has decided NOT to star in Disney's Cinderella.
He tweeted soon after that more details were to come. In the meantime, for a bit of speculation, I'm wondering if this might not be connected to the recent news that Disney was looking to "reinvent" Beauty and the Beast, with Trance writer Joe Ahearne eyed for the project. That piece of news broke just yesterday, which may be a coincidence when tied to this news, but maybe not, especially when you consider that Watson was set to star in a Beauty and the Beast adaptation as of last year. In fact, when we learned that Watson was up for the Cinderella role, it prompted us to question the status of her involvement in Guillermo del Toro's planned take on Beauty and the Beast. Was she planning on playing both princesses? Or were her talks with Disney an indication that Beast wasn't going forward? We haven't heard an update on del Toro's project in a while, though, last fall, word was that it was supposed to be shooting sometime this year. Whether or not that's actually happening remains unclear at present. Is there any chance Watson is eying the Belle role for Disney's Beast project if del Toro's isn't going forward? All we can do is speculate at this point.
UPDATE: Variety's Marc Graser has posted the additional details he promised earlier, which includes an update on Warner Bros' planned Beauty and the Beast film from Guillermo del Toro, in which Watson will play Belle. WB's Beast movie is still in development at the studio, however there's no production start date or set release date, and it's not going to start shooting this year. So that frees Watson up for other roles, but it sounds like she's still attached to star in WB's Beast once it moves forward.
