Disney has been relatively stingy with what they have released from the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Besides the teaser trailer and a few behind the scenes photos, fans seen very little of the film...until now.
The upcoming 25th anniversary Blu-ray/ Digital HD release of the animated classic is not available until next month, but some lucky fans had early access to the new special features, including a sneak peek of the live-action film, through iTunes. According to a thread on Blu-ray.com, the featurette runs 1:23 and showcases "mostly a table read with the cast, B-roll of the sets and a few costume sketches with Bill Condon narrating."
Photos have also surfaced from the sneak peek, including our first look at Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as Le Fou in the Tavern. There are also images of Dan Stevens as the Prince, Luke Evans and company rehearsing "Gaston," as well as costume sketches, concept art of the enchanted objects, and more.
The 25th anniversary edition of Beauty and the Beast will be available September 6th on Digital HD & Disney Movies Anywhere and September 20th on Blu-ray. Find out more about the upcoming release here.
B-roll footage of Luke Evans (Gaston) and Josh Gad (Le Fou) filming "Gaston."
Concept art of Lumiere (Ewan McGregor) and Cogsworth (Ian McKellen)
Dan Stevens as the Prince (Beast)
Concept art of Belle (Emma Watson)
Concept art of Gaston (Luke Evans)
Concept art of Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson)
Luke Evans (Gaston) and company during the London table read.
Concept art of the enchanted objects (Mrs. Potts, Chip, Garderobe, Cadenza) in the background.
From left to right: Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), Hattie Morahan (Agathe), Kevin Kline (Maurice), and Dan Stevens (Beast).
Josh Gad is no stranger to family fare, voicing the beloved snowman Olaf in Frozen and taking part in this summer's The Angry Birds Movie. In a new interview with The Straits Times, Gad talks about making movies with his children in mind and his experience bringing them to the set of Beauty and the Beast.
"When I was shooting a movie in London, she heard me recording Olaf's voice for another kid - she put two and two together and started howling, she was so tickled by it. And so now my nightly ritual is I say goodnight to her and then I give her a warm hug as Olaf. I don't know if she thinks if I'm an egomaniac for doing that, or just like laughing because she's like, 'Oh god, that's so embarrassing, why are you doing this?' But it seems to really tickle her in a way that's wonderful to share with her."
So when he chooses his movies now, "I always try to do one for me, one for them". "That why I'm doing Beauty And The Beast," he says of the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated musical, which stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens and is due out next year.
When Gad was filming his role as the sidekick LeFou, his girls "were getting a chance to walk around these majestic sets where they're basically being transported to the beast's castle and that's a movie that's very familiar to my older daughter.
"So I definitely try to choose movies like Angry Birds or Frozen so they don't have to wait to grow up to see them."
Josh Gad has been very busy over the past several days, appearing on several talk shows to discuss his upcoming projects, including Beauty and the Beast.
Moviefone: "Josh Gad Reveals Angry Birds Obsession, Teases Disney's Beauty and the Beast"
You have "Beauty and the Beast" coming out next year. Was it overwhelming taking over a character that's a big piece of everyone's childhood?
It's funny because, before I signed on, I sat down with the director, Bill Condon, and was like: "I want to pay homage to the character that came before, but I want him to be distinct in some way." And I feel like we found some interesting wrinkles that are hopefully going to be a little surprising. You're playing a three-dimensional version of a two-dimensional character, so you've gotta bring something more to it. And, having seen a cut of it, I think it works incredibly well and the film is just exceptional.
With less than a year to go until Beauty and the Beast graces our screens, anticipation is at an all-time high and Josh Gad's latest interview makes the wait that much harder. Speaking with IGN, Gad, who plays Le Fou in the live-action film, has nothing but high praise for the film, which he describes as having "the kind of scope and scale that Hollywood don't do anymore in live-action musicals."
It was easy to see from several behind the scenes photos that the dynamic between Gad and Evans could be one of the highlights of the film and this latest interview seems to back up that notion.
"That was my favorite part of the experience," Gad said. "That kid is unreal. He's such an unbelievable singer, and bringing a song like 'Gaston' to life, having sung it as a kid over and over again, it was a dream come true, opposite Luke."
Gad also spoke about seeing a rough cut of the film that had him "get up on my feet and applaud during sequences," as well as how director Bill Condon and his team have brought something new to a beloved Disney classic.
"What Disney has slowly been building towards and giving people little tastes of -- even in Jungle Book, which I hear is brilliant, but I've yet to see it; I cannot wait to see it, but I hear you have little tidbits of music -- you finally have a movie that embraces the incredible music that Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote and gives it the kind of scope and scale that Hollywood don't do anymore in live-action musicals. The scale of these numbers is going to floor people."
"It is one of those movies that is so iconic," he said. "What I think the creative team has brilliantly done under the guidance of Bill Condon is it's taken all of these moments that we recollect from our childhoods over the year of watching the film, etcetera, and it's given it new life, new wrinkles, new dimensions that are going to blow people away."
He added, "If you loved the original movie, you are going to love this film. If you've never seen the original movie, you are going to love this film. It has something old for everyone, something new for everyone, and it is very much its own beast, if you will."
While fans need to wait close to a year to see the movie, Gad already got a sneak peek. "I saw a rough cut of it months ago, and I wanted to get up on my feet and applaud during sequences," he said. "It's just stunning, and I'm so excited and proud to be a part of it."
In 2004, the American Film Institute (AFI) revealed its list of the top 100 songs in American cinema with "Beauty and the Beast" appearing at no. 62 on the list. Five other Disney songs, including "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins, are also featured on the list. One additional song from Beauty and the Beast, "Be Our Guest," was among the four hundred nominees considered for the top 100 spots.
Josh Gad recently headed down to my neck of the woods to visit the Walt Disney World Resort. While at the Magic Kingdom, Gad met up with Gaston in front of the tavern and had a few things to say about the upcoming Frozen ride at Epcot and Beauty and the Beast (jump to the 1:00 mark).
MTV News: Does Emma Watson Have The Pipes To Be Belle?
At Toronto International Film Festival in support of the upcoming film “High-Rise,” Evans called singing “a wonderful thing,” gushing about his time on the set of “Beauty and the Beast” and what a “feisty” woman Emma Watson is.
In a word, he said Watson, who plays Belle in the movie, was “wonderful.”
“She’s great,” he said. “She epitomizes what Belle should be in the 21st century to young girls; she’s a strong woman. We all know Emma as Emma, a strong woman, she has a voice, she uses it very effectively and I admire her for that. She’s brought some of that to Belle. She’s not just a Disney princess, she’s more than a Disney princess, and she has a beautiful sensitive side to her. She’s quite delicate to look at, but she’s not at all. She’s a really strong, feisty woman and we have some fantastic scenes in the film. I was making her laugh more than she should have been laughing.”
And does she have the pipes to belt the musical’s iconic songs? Yes, Evans confirmed.
“Great singing voice to boot. She’s a triple threat. Makes me sick.”
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She pauses, remembers Beauty and the Beast and laughs: “Er, not sure that really needs to be told in the same way!” But she acknowledges that she was ridiculously, childishly excited about being part of it, even if she does play … a feather duster. “Go on, you can say it! Well, I thought if Emma Thompson is playing a teapot I can certainly play a feather duster …”
NewsComAU: Josh Gad discusses Beauty and the Beast's London table read
“I was in a reading for Beauty and the Beast sitting next to Sir Ian McKellen, watching this man make minced meat of all of us ... Actually, let me rephrase that: I’m sitting sandwiched between Emma Thompson and Sir Ian McKellen ...
“You look at them and go, ‘God, I’ve got years and years and years of stuff to learn’.”
Is that your dream ... we begin to ask, but Gad jumps in before we can finish.
In a new interview with IGN, Josh Gad discusses his work on Beauty and the Beast, including rehearsals and working alongside Luke Evans.
On working with Luke Evans (Gaston):
Luke is going to blow people away. I mean, he's so funny in this movie and killer pipes.
On the film's first table read:
It was unlike anything I've ever been a part of before because it was just so epic. You almost felt like all it was missing was an audience of 7,000 because it was just full on. Usually a table read is a very intimate affair; you're all sitting there with your scripts and engaging by virtue of hearing it out loud, that's where it ends. This, we were seeing full performances done, we were seeing full pre-visualization of some of these incredibly complex scenes. It was unlike anything I've ever been a part of and probably will ever be a part of. It was just full on.
While attending a fashion event in Italy, Luke Evan spoke very briefly to Women's Wear Daily about his role as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.
Bulgari brand ambassador Luke Evans gamely posed for selfies and said he was flying back to London after the event as he is filming “Beauty and the Beast” with Emma Watson, out in 2017. “I play Gaston, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” he said.
Evans was very active on Instagram during the film's pre-porduciton period and shared a few behind the scenes photos back in April and May.
Director Bill Condon also had a few words about the film, which is currently in production at Shepperton Studios, during the London premiere of his new film Mr. Holmes (via IBT).
"It's big, you know! We're in our first month [of filming] and we've shot some numbers and they're kind of enormous and the sets are great! It's just been exciting to everybody. Getting to play with that incredible score and that beautiful story."
Watch carefully at the beginning of the video as Josh Gad zooms by in the background and Condon jokes about their time on set (You can also see their interaction in another video from the premiere). For more Beauty and the Beast, skip ahead to the 4:55 mark in the video.
UPDATE: Below is another video from the Mr. Holmes premiere with director Bill Condon.
"It's exciting. We're into our first month of shooting and it's been everyday, to be on these huge sets that represent the Beast's castle, to see these big musical numbers. We're all pinching ourselves. It's just been a very exciting, a very kind of realistic telling of that story.
Oh my god, I think she is going to blow everybody away. We've already done two of her musical numbers. She's a beautiful singer, a wonderful dancer. She's become one for this movie and she's just one of the hardest working people I've ever met. She's really just doing a beautiful job so far. As is Hattie Morahan, who's playing the Enchantress in the movie.
UPDATE: While Emma Watson has already filmed a few musical sequences, it seems Ian McKellen, who plays Cogsworth in the film, is up next (via Yahoo! News).
Ian McKellen on his musical talents:
“I can get by but I’m playing a clock, and clocks don’t sing frightfully well, so we’re OK,” the 76-year-old actor said.
Director Bill Condon on McKellen's abilities and the film's "thrilling" production:
“He’s already done a pre-recording of the score and he’s a natural,” he said.
Bill continued: “It’s going so well so far. We’re very lucky to have a great cast. It’s such pleasure, that great score. We’ve been shooting musical numbers every week, it’s been thrilling.”
“And next week, Sir Ian McKellen gets to make his singing and dancing debut.”
Beauty and the Beast is now in its second week of production and fans were finally treated to tiny look behind the scenes yesterday with a Snapchat of the film's script. The behind the scenes excitement continues today with Josh Gad's latest tweet. In his tweet, Gad reveals he was on set to see the beloved ballroom scene come to life (cue the screams!).
Yesterday, I walked onto a ballroom out of my childhood & saw Belle waltz w/a Beast. Get ready for magic people #BatBpic.twitter.com/cGsdh9nvux
The tweet also recalls part of Ian McKellen's Facebook post from April describing the first table read:
But my favourite moment, because it made me weepy, was when the Beast’s loving arm was placed tentatively on Belle’s shoulder after their pas de deux. Clearly dancing and singing rehearsals had started before today.
It is really happening! Beauty and the Beast is set to begin filming later this month, but there is still some excitement to come from pre-production, including a photo Luke Evans shared of himself and costar Josh Gad in a recording studio this morning via Twitter. The pair will play Gaston and his sidekick Le Fou in the live-action film. If the tweet is anything to go by, the pair appear to be recording "Gaston."
UPDATE: Evans shared a second photo of himself in the recording studio, which has been included below.
In a new video interview with Collider, Josh Gad discusses the Frozen phenomenon and briefly touches on his involvement in Beauty and the Beast (as LeFou) and previous experience working with director Bill Condon.
Disney continues to fill out the cast of their upcoming live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with Tony nominee Josh Gad. The Wrap reports Gad, who recently voiced Olaf in Frozen, will join the cast as Gaston's bumbling sidekick LeFou. Gad joins Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, and Luke Evans as Gaston. Beauty and the Beast is set to begin production this May in London with Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) at the helm. No release date has been announced at this time.
