Here is the new trailer for Disney’s critically-acclaimed live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” back in theaters in Los Angeles and New York for awards consideration in all categories, including Best Picture.
The film is screening exclusively at the AMC Century City in Los Angeles and AMC Empire 25 in New York.
https://youtu.be/jfxAPzFBDkA
And below are the categories that Disney is hoping the Motion Picture Academy nominates Disney for the upcoming Academy Awards:
GLOBAL BOX OFFICE HIT “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” TO BE RERELEASED IN THEATERS IN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES FOR EXCLUSIVE ONE-WEEK ENGAGEMENT BEGINNING DECEMBER 1
Fans of Disney’s live-action adaptation “Beauty and the Beast” will be able to view the stunning, cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved tales ever told once again when the film is rereleased on December 1 at the AMC Century City in Los Angeles and AMC Empire 25 in New York.
The film, which has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office, will screen at the two theaters for an exclusive one-week engagement. Members of AMPAS, BAFTA, ACE, ADG, ASC, CAS, DGA, HFPA, MPEG, MPSE, PGA, WGA, CDG and VES will be admitted with a guest to screenings at both theaters with valid membership card. The film was released domestically on March 16 of this year and quickly became the highest grossing film domestically and internationally, and the biggest live-action movie musical of all time.
In his review of the film, A.O. Scott from THE NEW YORK TIMES said the film, “revels in joy and enchantment. Its classicism feels unforced and fresh, its romance neither winks nor panders. I almost didn’t recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy.”
Mick La Salle from THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE said, “’Beauty and the Beast’ has the feeling of old-fashioned Hollywood grandeur. It’s a beautiful movie, both in look and spirit, one of the joys of 2017” and Brian Truitt from USA TODAY said, “Rousing new ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is even better than the original.”
Directed by Bill Condon and based on the 1991 animated film, “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s father; Josh Gad as LeFou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the candelabra; Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe, the wardrobe; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster; Hattie Morahan as the enchantress; with Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.
“Beauty and the Beast” is written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos and produced by Mandeville Films’ David Hoberman, p.g.a. and Todd Lieberman, p.g.a. with Jeffrey Silver, Thomas Schumacher and Don Hahn serving as executive producers. Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards® (Best Original Score and Best Song) for the animated film, provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as three new songs written by Menken and Tim Rice.
Our latest photo report brings u back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios as it prepares for a transitional Holiday season, offering up a new lineup that Disney hopes will fill the void left by the Osborne Lights over the last two years.
Christmas Shopping
Plenty of blown-glass ornaments for sale at Celebrity 5 & 10, including a new Monorail ornament.
They’re a little pricey at $19.99 each, but they are pretty cool.
Some new holiday apparel for sale.
A few new Beauty and the Beast ornaments have joined the existing collection this year, including this light up rose ornament.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse have both received their own action figures of sorts, exclusive to the Disney Parks. They retail for $14.99 each.
The new Mickey Mouse ear baseball cap is already out.
Sunset Seasons Greetings
As the park prepares for the new Sunset Seasons Greetings offering, a whole lot of new infrastructure is going into place on Sunset Boulevard. The old, white lights for the palm trees have been replaced with these beauties, capable of color changing for show elements.
Some extra hardware was also installed on the star lights, likely to be used to integrate them into the show.
The Fantasmic billboard is likely gone for good as a new billboard that can be projected onto will go in its place. Maybe it will return in some form down the road.
Behind the billboard hides the infrastructure for the projectors that will turn the Hollywood Tower Hotel into a number of holiday items during the shows.
The projectors sit on the stands you can see behind these windows.
People seem confused about a new Paradise Pier billboard that appeared recently at the Studios. I don’t see the confusion as both lands exist in roughly the same time period. Sadly, Paradise Pier will become PIXAR Pier, but this will be a nice nod to the past.
Dirt Street U.S.A.
Construction continues on Two Story Land, opening Summer 2018.
The remnants of the catwalk above the soundstage waits to be sealed in.
On the other side, we still have no idea what this weird, tall section of building is supposed to be.
A dirt wall now seals PIXAR Place, which eventually will be no more once Toy Story Land opens and the entrance to Toy Story Midway Mania moves there.
Just before this dirt wall will lie a cast access road, with PIXAR Place then becoming a backstage area.
The construction walls behind Muppet Vision 3-D expanded outward, now coming into the attraction’s exit.
Here we see the building for the “Battle Escape” attraction in Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge.
This and That
Sunset Showcase courtyard was open, being used for extended queue for Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, as well as some character meet and greets.
The show building for Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster was recently repainted blue to blend into Toy Story Land better. It’s too bad it now doesn’t blend with anything on this side of the park. Why is every “soundstage” building a different color?
Work on Echo Lake continues, with the “logs” under the water now repainted.
With the Coco preview coming soon, the final room of Walt Disney Presents is pretty barren at the moment. The stickers on the walls were taken down and only on display case remains in use.
New Beauty and the Beast “Grey Stuff” merchandise has debuted at Disney Parks this week, including a new shirts for men and women, plus a new pin featuring Lumière.
The men’s shirt is $27.99.
The women’s shirt is $32.99.
The pin has a sliding element that reveals that the grey stuff in fact is delicious.
Disney has announced that “Beauty And The Beast” will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD this June 6th. Check out the announcement video and the the list of Special Features below.
Enchanted Table Read – Join the cast for the movie’s elaborately staged table read, complete with singing and dancing to live music, set pieces and more.
A Beauty of a Tale – Explore the process of transforming a beloved animated film into a new live-action classic.
The Women Behind “Beauty and the Beast” – Emma Watson introduces several of the talented women in all aspects of production who helped bring this enchanted tale to life.
Making a Moment with Celine Dion – Celine Dion shares what it’s like to sing “How Does a Moment Last Forever” – and be a part of the legacy of “Beauty and the Beast.”
From Song to Screen: Making the Musical Sequences – See what goes into making some of the best-known moments from “Beauty and the Beast.”
Extended Song: “Days in the Sun” – Learn more about Beast’s childhood in an alternate version of this beautiful song, introduced by director Bill Condon. “Beauty and the Beast”
Music Video – Award-winning artists Ariana Grande and John Legend perform a moving version of this iconic song.
Making the Music Video – Go on set to capture the magic as it happens in Ariana Grande and John Legend’s “Beauty and the Beast” music video.
Disney Song Selection – Jump directly to all your favorite songs and sing along with the movie.
Fans of the worldwide box office smash “Beauty and the Beast” will be able to sing along with their favorite characters when the “Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along” hits approximately 1,200 theaters nationwide on Friday, April 7, 2017.
The “Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along” will feature on-screen lyrics to such beloved songs as “Belle,” “Be Our Guest,” “Gaston” and “Beauty and the Beast” written by eight-time Oscar®-winning composer Alan Menken and two-time Oscar-winning lyricist Howard Ashman and new songs “How Does a Moment Last Forever” and “Evermore” written by Menken and veteran lyricist and three time Oscar winner Tim Rice.
Disney’s live-action adaptation “Beauty and the Beast,” in which the story and characters audiences know and love come to spectacular life, has grossed more than $875 million worldwide to date, making it the highest grossing movie musical of all time. The film opened in U.S. theaters on March 17, 2017 immediately setting a box office record for the largest March opening ever for a PG-rated film (over $170 million). “Beauty and the Beast’s” domestic box office total currently stands at $393 million. Overseas the film has grossed more than $482 million as of today.
The film’s soundtrack, which includes songs from the score performed by Ariana Grande and John Legend, Celine Dion and Josh Groban, has been equally as well received, entering the Billboard 200 chart at No. 3 and Billboard’s Soundtrack and Children’s charts at No. 1. The Beauty and theBeast Soundtrack is available at: http://disneymusic.co/BeautySndtrkP and wherever music is sold and streamed.
As of today, the Tokyo Disneyland Resort has broken ground for a multi-year expansion that will all be finished by 2020. This is the largest investment to date that the Tokyo Disneyland Resort has made since the opening of Tokyo Disney Sea in 2001.
Offerings to expect in this new development is a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Inspired land that will place you into the village of Belle, will feature a brand new attraction, restaurant, a new merchandise location, and you will even be able to meet your favorite characters from the film, conquer Beast’s Castle, and also be able to see live performances in an outdoor theater.
There’s also a video walkthrough of the 3D model for the entire land:
Not only will there be a land for Beauty and the Beast, but also for a first in any Disney Park, there will be a brand new ‘Big Hero 6’ attraction that will be made in Tomorrowland. Similar to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, guests will swing and swirl around the beloved Personal Healthcare Companion.
Lastly coming to Toontown will be a ‘walkthrough design studio’ where you will be able to meet the 2nd most famous mouse of all; Minnie Mouse.
Stay posted on WDWNT for any more news and updates regarding this major project as well as the Tokyo Disneyland Resort as a whole.
“Beauty And The Beast” reigned supreme at the box office this weekend with an estimated $170 million domestically and $180 million internationally resulting in a worldwide gross of $350 million.
“Beauty And The Beast” achieved the following accomplishments:
The highest March opening weekend record.
The largest opening for a PG rated film.
The largest Spring opening weekend.
The 7th largest opening weekend ever.
The 4th largest Saturday gross of all time.
The 6th largest Sunday gross of all time.
The largest IMAX opening for a PG rated film in both domestic and global markets.
Here are the top ten highest grossing domestic movies for 2017:
When I first saw the trailer to the live action “Beauty And The Beast”, like many, I was blown away and could not wait to see it. But weeks before it came out, I started to get concerned. There were a lot of questions I had going into this movie. Will it be as good as the original Disney animated classic? This movie is a 20 minutes longer than the original, am I going to like the new changes? There has been controversy surrounding the movie, how controversial are these changes? Can Emma Watson even sing?
First off, without a doubt, the original Disney animated classic is by far my favorite Disney movie, and I know that many Disney fans share my enthusisam. Beauty And The Beast has a very important historical significance. In 1991, it was the first animated movie to ever been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but unfortunately it lost to Silence Of The Lambs that year. Disney was on a roll that started the reemergence of their animation studios that first began with The Little Mermaid in 1989, followed by Beauty And The Beast in 1991 and then with Aladdin in 1992. These three movies made Disney a ton of money not only at the box office but through the sales of their soundtracks and through merchandising. They became an important part of many Disney fans lives and I can’t imagine Disney without them now.
The one thing that these three movies have in common was the wonderful music written for these films by the team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Disney owes this duo so much and it is a real shame that we lost Howard Ashman so early in his career. There was no better musical team that worked together as well, and I doubt there ever will be. They helped bring back the musical element to Disney animated films that they were poorly lacking. Menken teamed up with other lyricists after Ashman’s death, but it never resulted in the same magic. They really were perfect together.
I had seen the 1991 version of Beauty And The Beast on opening night in Manhattan at the 50th Street Guild Theater. As soon as the movie began, I knew it was something different. The very first song, Belle, felt like an operetta and was so well done and memorable. When the movie finally ended, I stayed all the way till the credits ended because I knew at that point I had witnessed something special and didn’t want it to end. I’d say that Beauty And The Beast is one of the few movies that I rate a 10/10 and it is so well deserved and it still holds up to this day. It’s the perfect movie.
OK, on to the review. We all know the story. a prince is heartless and cursed by an Enchantress and turned into a Beast. Only thing that will break the spell is if the Prince learns to love and be loved in return. Belle is a local girl from the town that has nothing in common with the people in her village. Belle offers to stay with the Beast as his prisoner in order for her father to be freed. Belle and Beast get to know each other and eventually have feelings for each other. Belle must leave Beast to save her father. Gaston convinces the town that they have to kill The Beast. Belle makes it back to Beast and then seconds later Beast is killed by Gaston. Love conquers all, even death, and Beast is turned back to a prince and he and Belle and the rest of the castle staff live happily ever after.
That entire story is in the new movie but there is also a lot more to this new version. Is this better than the original? No way. Not even close, but it is definitely a lot better than I expected. It’s actually a very good adaption of the original and I think fans of the original will appreciate the nods to the original as well as some of the changes to the story. In no way does this movie do harm to the classic and you really have to look at as a different telling of the classic and you will enjoy it much more that way.
Let me get to what I liked. Director Bill Condon did an excellent job of bringing the animated classic to life. I really can’t imagine how he could have done a better job with the look of the characters and environments. The cinematography is incredible and very impressive. When you first see Beast’s castle you get a real sense of scale that you really couldn’t appreciate in the original. Most of the actors do a great job with their performance. There is one person I feel was miscast and will get to that later. The standout performance to me was Luke Evans as Gaston followed closely by Dan Stevens as Beast. Speaking of Beast, the CGI used on Beast is some of the most amazing looking CGI I have ever seen. I have seen the movie twice now, and the very first time I was fooled by the CGI of Beast. I really thought that Beast was Dan Stevens in makeup, but that is definitely a fully rendered CGI character with Dan Stevens doing motion capture. Even the second time I kept questioning whether it was makeup or CGI. The only time I was able to notice was during the profile scenes because his nose was too flat to be makeup. A truly incredible achievement. If you have a chance to see it in 3D, I would recommend it. The depth in the 3D version is really well done and there is even an occasional pop out coming out of the screen. It felt as though it was actually snowing in my theater at times due to the excellent 3D. I also liked how they portrayed The Beast in this version. He wasn’t constantly pining after Belle in this one and I felt that made him more interesting to her. She liked romance books and he hated them, although eventually he compromised. But I liked that he went off and did his own thing, like trying to bond with Philippe, Belle’s horse, as Belle watched from a window. I also loved that he popped Belle in the face with a snowball. Reminded me of a scene from Dumb and Dumber.
As I had mentioned previously, I felt that Ashman and Menken were a musical team like no other. The musical score is slightly different at times, but still great. The songs that appeared in the original animated film are in there and for the most part the new performances do the original justice. It’s nice to hear a slightly newer version of a musical piece you are familiar with and I feel they do a really good job with this. The new songs made specifically for the live action film are good songs but feel like they just don’t fit with the movie. First off, the songs from the original movie are very memorable. When you first heard them, you wanted to hear them again. The new songs, which were written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, are very somber and melancholy. There is nothing fun and memorable about them at all. I can’t imagine kids singing these songs at all. They feel like they belong in a Broadway musical more than in a musical movie, if that makes sense. Maybe things would have been different if Ashman was still alive. Again they were good songs, but I could have done without them. These new songs are good bathroom break scenes, so keep that in mind, if you need one, or two. I felt everyone also did a very good job of singing. Emma Watson surprised me at times with her singing. She definitely misses some notes but she definitely lands some too. I think her best performance is “Something There”.
So prior to the release, there was talk about some controversial changes and I will discuss them and how I feel about them. The first one was when Emma Watson came out and said she specifically wanted to change Belle to be more of a feminist in this one. To me, the original Belle was a perfect role model. She was intelligent, a heroine and the lesson you learned from her experience was to not judge a book by its cover. This Belle is exactly the same. I know they added in that Watson’s Belle encourages the young girls to read and I think that was a great addition. I wasn’t 100% crazy about the townspeople destroying her washing machine, but it was not a big deal either. If Watson didn’t mention it, it would have been overlooked. The other controversy is that in this version LeFou, played by Josh Gad, is gay. Last week I watched the original version, and regardless of what people may say, LeFou is not gay in that movie. He is more like one of those guys that you saw in high school that hero worshiped some jock and just wanted to be in that persons circle because he felt it made him cooler. LeFou in the original version barely looks at Gaston. He is there just for the rewards like beer and the attention. The LeFou in this new version definitely has a crush on Gaston. But honestly, it is very subtle. Will some people have a problem with it? Some, but most will not. And as far as kids go, it will go right over their heads. I liked Josh Gad’s performance, but I’ll get to that in a bit. I think the problem is that director Mike Condon announced that LeFou was gay and then it was picked up all over the internet and there were all kinds of speculation. If Condon hadn’t said anything, this would have been a non issue. I also think Disney came out and supported the decision publicly because they wanted to stand by their director. My suggestion is, if you are concerned; don’t judge until you see it. I honestly think it is harmless and some of it is very funny too.
So now onto the bad. SPOILERS ahead. This movie was dark. And I don’t mean in tone, I mean visually. It’s like the director added a dark filter and I felt that it was a bit over the top that resulted in the loss of detail in many scenes. The one person I felt that was miscast was Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s father. It felt like Kline just did not want to be there and also felt he did not fit the role. I also did not like that they made LaFou a sympathetic character. Almost like the victim of an abusive relationship. In the original, LaFou was just a big of a jerk as Gaston was and even tried to kill Lumiere. I did not like that they blamed Beast being so mean and cruel due to his father being so abusive to him. That wasn’t needed. I didn’t like that they brought in Belle’s mother story and had her parallel Beast’s mother, where they both died to illness. That made Beast and Belle have something more in common other than their love for literature. Just a little too much. They also expanded the Enchantress’ role. Basically, she was a bit of a jerk. She cursed the Beast, then cursed a bunch of innocent people because the Prince wouldn’t take a rose from her and then she erased the memories of their loved ones. Boy, did she get up on the wrong side of the bed! Then she lives outside the village as the hag, Agatha. Why didn’t she curse Gaston at the point she could have saved Maurice? They also added some new characters, like the Maestro, who was married to the Wardrobe. And Lumiere has a girlfriend, Plumette. Plumette was in the original but they definitely expanded her role and felt that the character that suffered the most from the addition of new unnecessary characters was Cogsworth. Cogsworth felt like a second or even third banana in this movie. He barely had anything to do or say. I also felt that at times they made Gaston too good and then at times they made him too bad. Like in the beginning, he was kind of nice to Belle, and not overbearing. Actually asking her if he could come over for dinner. I kind of felt like her behavior towards him was snobbish in the beginning. Give the guy a chance, Belle. But Gaston punching Maurice in the face and then leaving him tied up to be eaten by wolves was too much. A big problem for me was that the ending did not have anywhere as near the emotional impact as the animated version did. The ending of the animated version still gives me chills to this day. The end of this movie, I was like, OK, I’m outta here. Last thing, and definitely nit picking, that magic mirror was way too small. You really couldn’t see anything in that thing.
Overall, it is a good live action adaption of the original animated classic. It’s hard to judge it on its own without thinking of the original. At times it is very faithful to the animated classic and at other times they added things I felt that could have been left out. But if this was a perfect bit by bit adaption of the original, I’m sure most people would complain it was “too” much like the original. So kudos to them for taking a risk. If I was told that I would be stuck on a desert island and I could only take one of these movies with me, there is no question I would take the original. But I would also be glad there would be electricity on the island too.
Definitely go see it. It’s a lot of fun and very well done. Just don’t expect the same magic as the original.
