It was a fairy tale come true on Thursday (March 02) as Disney's live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" premiered in Los Angeles. Stars Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, and Josh Gad walked a red carpet that stretched down the famed Hollywood Boulevard.
"I know it's very, very exciting. I mean, this film has been over two years in the making and I'm just ready to have it out there in the world," said Watson, who plays Belle, a small town girl taken prisoner by a monstrous beast. "I think it will be nice for people to see everything that they saw in the original, but also get to know and understand a little bit more of their stories."
Dan Stevens, who plays the Beast, said the re-working of the original 1991 animated film is a technological marvel.
"You know the idea of this kind of film just didn't exist when I was a kid," said Stevens. "I certainly grew up loving the animated film. I grew up loving the book actually is one of my favorite fairy tales. But the point at which, technology and fairy tale can now meet is so exciting, where you can have a romantic lead character that's essentially driven by a digital mask that we create. It's mind blowing."
Josh Gad plays LeFou, announced this week by Disney as their first gay character. He compared the original film as the "Frozen" of his generation.
"It was the movie that my parents took me to over and over again," said Gad. "I remember being 10-years old in South Florida seeing it for the first time, and the thing that I remember the most is the audience breaking out into applause at the end of songs sung by animated characters on the screen. And so to now bring those iconic songs to life, to bring this incredible story to life again, to bring these characters to life, it's a dream come true."
Other celebs hitting the red carpet included Luke Evans, who plays villain Gaston, and singer Celine Dion, who recorded a new song for the movie.
The original film was a success, taking in more than 424 million dollars at the box office, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. The new "Beauty and the Beast" opens on March 17 and is expected to follow suit: there are already hundreds of sold-out showtimes, according to movie ticketing service Fandango.
