The cast for Disney’s live-action conversion job on Beauty And The Beast continues to grow in interesting ways. Today we can sound the** Gods And Monsters** reunion klaxon as director Bill Condon has hired Ian McKellen to play talking timepiece Cogsworth.
In the 1991 cartoon version, Cogsworth was the Beast’s loyal butler, turned into a chatty clock thanks to the dark curse that befalls his master and everyone else in the castle. How the character will be brought to life on screen for Condon’s new version remains to be seen, though we figure the CGI teams will be busy.
This take on the tale already boasts a great ensemble, with Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as Le Fou, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline as Belle’s father Maurice and Audra McDonald as Garderobe. Condon is working from a script by Stephen Chbosky.
The cameras will be cranking this May at Shepperton Studios, with the movie targeting a March 17, 2017 release in the States and over here. McKellen will next be seen as an aged Sherlock in Mr. Holmes, out on June 19, and is one of the voices for CG ‘toon** Animal Crackers**, which is headed to screens next year.