Del Toro has stepped down as director of the upcoming Warner Bros. adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
No, we’re not talking about Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast adaptation (which was at one point called Beast and meant to be a retelling from his perspective) – though with the many adaptations of classic tales making the rounds lately you could be forgiven for thinking so. Instead, we’re talking about the Warner Bros. adaptation of the original tale, which is a work in progress under the name Beauty, starring Emma Watson. (Though it would be interesting to see Disney’s Beast and Warner Bros. Beauty competing, neither of the films have a release date and its recent director change, the Disney remake may wind up heading in a different direction.)
While we’re keen on the idea of Pan’s Labyrinth clashing with our Disney fairy tale preconceptions – and Labyrinth did a pretty good job of ruining the happy-go-lucky fairy tale anyway – Del Toro is no longer directing due to other commitments, though he has already penned a script. We don’t yet know who will be picking up this project or how much of Del Toro’s original concept will make it to the big screen… but we’re still following this project with curiosity. (Possibly morbid curiosity, but curiosity nevertheless.)
Source: Deadline
