Bill Condon to Direct Disney's Live-Action Adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST?

According to Collider, rumor has it that Bill Condon may have been chosen to direct Disney's live-action adaptation of their classic Beauty and the Beast. Ever since Alice in Wonderland's success in 2010, Disney has slowly been adapting their classics into live-action films. Maleficent is soon to be released, followed by Cinderella and The Jungle Book in 2015. Beauty and the Beast is also in the works; however, not much has been revealed about the creative team or the actual movie itself.

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The rumor sparked from a tweet by Film Divider, which reads, "Expect Breaking Dawn and Gods and Monsters' Bill Condon to direct Disney's live action take on Beauty and the Beast."

Condon has most recently directed the final two movies in The Twilight Saga. He also directed Gods and Monsters, which won him and Oscar, and Kinsey. He also has experience with the theatrical side of film. Condon is resposible for writing the script for the movie versions of Chicago anf Dreamgirls, which he also directed.

Based on the 1991 Academy-Award winning animated feature film, Disney's Beauty and the Beast premiered on Broadway in 1994, where it was nominated for nine prestigious Tony Awards and ran for 13 years. It still ranks as one of the longest-running and highest-grossing Broadway shows of all time. Since its debut, the titles visibility and success has expanded globally with subsequent productions produced around the world. Since licensing of the title began in 2004, there have been productions in 22 countries, seen by more than 35 million people, translated into 8 differentlanguages with over 28 thousand performances - equivalent to a run of 67 years, generating over $1.7B in revenue.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the classic story of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped in a spell placed by an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.