Snow White may be the most popular fairy tale of the moment, but closing the gap is the story of Beauty and the Beast. Just last year CBS Films came out with Beastly, starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, and just last month Disney re-released the most famous film version of the tale in 3D. While our fingers remained crossed that nobody will get the idea to remake The Beautician and the Beast, Variety has learned that a new European version of the story is now in development and has landed its two leads.
Reporting from the European Film Market in Berlin, the trade says that the new Beauty and the Beast film has landed French actors Vincent Cassell and Lea Seydoux. It is said that the project is one of the biggest European titles that was announced at the market this year. Christophe Gans, who is best known for helming Silent Hill and Brotherhood of the Wolf, will be taking over both scripting and directing duties. The news says that Gans' script is based on "one of the earliest published variants of the traditional fairy tale." The film will be made in French and production will begin this fall with a $40 million budget.
Cassell recently completed production on Danny Boyle's Trance with James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson, while Seydoux will soon begin work on The Foam of Days, the new film from director Michel Gondry.
As seen in Beastly (which, if you didn't know, is a horrible film), the real challenge behind making a live-action Beauty and the Beast story is how to design the hideous beast. Hopefully Gans has something in mind better than Pettyfer's bald head and overly-tattooed skin.
