Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast is getting ready to start production, which means Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans and the rest will all be gathered in one giant sphere of awesomeness.
You can say a lot of things about Disney’s live-action remake trend (and we have), but the casting for Beauty and the Beast has been nothing but amazing.
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First there was the internet-breaking announcement that Emma Watson would play Belle, and since then our dream cast slowly assembled.
Luke Evans is Gaston, Dan Stevens is the Beast, Josh Gad is LeFou, Emma Thompson is Mrs Potts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is Plumette, Kevin Kline is Maurice, Audra McDonald is the Wardrobe, and of course Sir Ian McKellen is Cogsworth.
We don’t think huge Hollywood stars have ever been this excited about playing inanimate (turned animate) objects before.
Related: Disney developing live-action Winnie The Pooh
And with The Perks of Being a Wallflower‘s Stephen Chbosky writing the script and Bill Condon directing? Dreams really do come true.
The cast members have now gathered for their first group photo, a selfie taken by Josh Gad and posted on Instagram:
Present for the picture are Gad, Emma Watson, Kevin Kline, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens. They’re likely at a read-through, although that’s purely speculation on our part.
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Meanwhile, fans are still waiting to hear who’ll be cast as Lumiere. We’ve got every appendage crossed for McKellen’s long-time friend Sir Patrick Stewart, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ waltzes into a cinema near you on March 17, 2017.
Bonus fact: today is Emma Watson’s birthday! Happy birthday, Emma!