Emma Watson to star in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Looks like Disney has its next Beauty. According to TheWrap, Emma Watson has just secured a deal to play the lead – presumably still called Belle – in Beauty and the Beast. This is particularly interesting, as she was initially set to star in a different film version directed by Guillermo del Toro back in 2012. That ultimately fell apart, and now the director has reportedly given his blessing for Watson to star in Disney’s version. This follows a current trend of Disney classics getting a live-action re-imagining: Alice in Wonderland back in 2010, and Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming Cinderella and next year’s The Jungle Book. While the film will be directed by Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate, Gods and Monsters), there is no news on the rest of the cast – but we think Watson has proven herself as a fantastic actress already since her Harry Potter days, and will probably be able to carry Beauty and the Beast on her own (unless there are singing teapots and dancing candlesticks in the mix, of course).