‘Beauty And The Beast’: Emma Watson Enchants As Belle In New Sneak Peek

Disney is gearing up for the 2017 release of its much-anticipated live-action remake of its beloved 1991 hit Beauty and the Beast, and a 30-second teaser clip released in May left fans asking for more. Now Disney is giving fans exactly what they asked for with a newly released behind-the-scenes sneak peek at the production featuring Emma Watson as Belle.

The clip opens with images of the symbols that are iconic to the Beauty and the Beast fairytale—Beast’s enchanted castle bathed in moonlight as a light dusting of snow falls from a stormy sky, a bright red rose, and the grandiose ballroom complete with ornate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

“On September 6th get an exclusive look at the upcoming theatrical release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” reads a message in gold text over the imagery.

https://www.facebook.com/DisneyBeautyAndTheBeast/photos/a.10150899631219097.522716.35044734096/10154871214304097/?type=1&theater

Fans are then treated to an inside look at the cast’s table read of the newly revamped script, Variety reported. Watson, the actress known for her role as heroine Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise, can be seen reading her lines alongside her co-star, Dan Stevens.

“What are you reading?” Watson asks in character as Belle.

“Nothing,” Stevens in the Beast’s characteristic growl.

As to be expected whenever a classic film is set to receive a new update, fans might be weary of the live-action treatment to a beloved Disney film. But Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon explains the importance of the remake and what fans can expect from the upcoming movie.

“I was so excited to hear that Disney was thinking about doing a live-action version of Beauty and the Beast,” Condon says in the sneak peek. “When something is so perfect, why get near it? The answer is technology has caught up to the ideas that were introduced in that movie.”

To give fans a visual of the ways new technology can help retell the beloved classic story, a clip of the 1991 film featuring the Beast’s animated ballroom is shown right before a clip of the 2017 live-action version of the same room. Next, the sneak peak compares the 1991 version of characters Lumiere and Cogsworth with their updated 2017 versions. For the upcoming live-action film, Fargo star Ewan McGregor voices the maître d’ of Beast’s castle who was turned into the enchanted candelabra, Lumiere. Ian McKellen, known for his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises, voices Beast’s majordomo who was turned into the enchanted clock, Cogsworth.

Linda Woolverton, the writer for the original 1991 animated screenplay also wrote the script for the live-action 2017 release, as previously reported by The Inquisitr. In an interview this past spring with the Entertainment Weekly, Woolverton reflected on why she was adamant on portraying Belle as a strong, female character and how revolutionary it was in the 1990s that a Disney princess film featured a main character with feminist values.

“Look at all the Disney princesses before her,” Woolverton told Entertainment Weekly in May. “Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale, but she has an independent, open mind. She loves to read and to explore the outdoors. But even so, every day was a battle of making it happen. Every single line of her dialogue was a battle.”

https://www.facebook.com/DisneyBeautyAndTheBeast/photos/a.10150899631219097.522716.35044734096/10155065914009097/?type=1&theater

The newly released clip of the live-action film actually serves as a teaser for an extended behind-the-scenes sneak peek that will only be available in with the 25th-anniversary edition of the 1991 animated version of Beauty and the Beast, which will be re-released on September 6 in Digital HD. The Blue-Ray version of the 25th anniversary edition is scheduled for a September 18 release.

Watch the sneak peek below.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]