Hollywood bets big on “Beast,” considers remake of “My Fair Lady”

Jim Hill

15 years ago

Are you a fan of “Beauty and the Beast”? I hope so. Because – over the next few years – three
different versions of this “Tale as Old as Time” are going to turn up at theaters
near you.

First up is the re-rendered version of Walt Disney Animation
Studios’ 1991 hit. Which turns this Academy Award-winning hand-drawn animated
feature into a Disney Digital 3D release. Look for this dimensionally enhanced version
of “Beauty & the Beast” to bow on February 12, 2010.

Then – on July 10, 2010 – CBS Films rolls out a brand-new
take on this classic fairytale. Which (I can guarantee you) won’t feature any singing
teapots and/or dancing candelabras. “Beastly” (which is based on Alex Flinn’s novel
) takes more of a “Twilight” approach to this material. Reimagining this
French fable as an edgy teen romance.

Set in modern day New York, “Beastly” tells the story of
Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer), a handsome and wealthy teen who has a decidedly
cruel streak. He delights in tormenting the less affluent, more unattractive kids
who attend the same private school as Kyle. But Kingson more than meets his
match when he goes after Goth classmate, Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen).

When Kyle embarrasses Kendra in front of the whole school,
she responds by casting a spell on this self-centered, heartless teen. Which
turns Kingson into this horrible, unrecognizable monster.

You know how the rest of the story goes, right? Repulsed by
his appearance, Kingson’s father banishes his son to Brooklyn. Where – as Kyle
continues his high school education with the help of a blind tutor (Neil
Patrick Harris) – he struggles to find a way to break Kendra’s curse and then return
to his original, far more handsome form.

Unfortunately for Kingson, the only way that this
enchantment can be broken is if someone will love Kyle as he is. Which – given this
teen’s ugly exterior and equally vile interior – looks like it’s never going to
happen.

“So why should Disneyana fans be interested in ‘Beastly’ ?,”
you ask. Well, wait ‘til you hear who CBS Films hired for the Belle role. It’s “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens, who plays Lindy, the daughter of a drug
addict that Kingson blackmails into leaving the girl in his care.

In press materials that were released earlier this week, CBS
Films calls “Beastly” “ … a hyper-modern retelling of the classic ‘Beauty and
the Beast’ story.” Based on Alex Flinn’s novel, this edgy teen romance is
currently being shot in Montreal. With director Daniel Barnz working off of his
own adaptation of Flinn’s book.

Mind you, if you’re just not ready for an edgy teen romance
version of “Beauty and the Beast” but would still like to see how this classic
fairytale would play out as a live-action film, may I direct your attention to Adriana
Marmiroli’s May 2009 interview with Disney Legend Alan Menken. Who – as he was
talking with this reporter from “La Stampa” (i.e. Italy’s leading daily
newspaper) about his work schedule – Menken mentioned several projects that he’s
currently working on :

Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken

“ … I am preparing the soundtracks of two Disney animated
feature: Rapunzel and The Snow Queen, in addition (to) a live-action musical
film about Beauty and the Beast, plus a new (Broadway) musical that will debut
in fall 2010, Leap of Faith.”

Did you catch that part in the middle there? “ … a
live-action musical film about Beauty and the Beast …” ?! This concept for a
new “Beauty and the Beast” movie actually dates back to Michael Eisner’s days
of running the Mouse House.

Back then, Eisner was such a fan of the Broadway musical
version of “Beauty and the Beast” that he wanted to preserve the stage show in
some way. Depending on when you’d talk with Michael, he’d either propose producing
a TV movie version of B & B that could then air on ABC just like Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” and “Annie” did back in the late 1990s. Or
Eisner would then plan on going all out, insisting that the live-action movie
version of Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast” had to be shot on location in
France’s Loire Valley. So that this “Tale as Old as Time” really could be “True
as it can be.”

Well, Uncle Michael has been out of power at The Walt Disney
Company since September of 2006. But evidently his pet project lives on, given that Menken and his writing
partner – Glenn Slater – are supposedly working on a few new songs for this proposed
live-action movie musical.

“And when exactly would this live-action remake of ‘Beauty
and the Beast’ be put into production?,” you query. From what I’ve been hearing
from studio insiders, the original plan was that this film would hit theaters
in the late Fall / early winter of 2011 (i.e. the 20^th anniversary
of the theatrical release of the original animated version of “Beauty and the
Beast”). But now that the Disney Digital 3D version of “Beast” is being
released in February of 2010 (and – 8 months later — will then be followed by the
Diamond Edition Blu-ray / DVD of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” ), the thinking
in-house now seems to be that there really needs to be some distance between
the Disney Digital 3D / Blu-ray DVD versions of “Beast” and the new live-action
remake. Which is why (lately, anyway) I’ve been hearing that this proposed
production has been bumped out to 2016 (i.e. the 25^th anniversary of
“Beauty and the Beast” ‘s release).

Now that I know that it may strike some of you as bizarre
that The Walt Disney Company would ever consider remaking “Beauty and the Beast”
as a live-action musical. But let’s remember that this is the Mouse House that
we’re talking about here. Which just revealed that it has a Maleficent movie in
the works. So just because an idea sounds unlikely doesn’t mean that it’s not
actually happening.

Julie Andrews in the original Broadway production of “My Fair Lady” circa 1956

More to the point, this is Hollywood of 2009 that we’re discussing
here. A town that – in order to mitigate all risk at the box office — has gone
sequel and remake-crazy. Case in point: Guess which classic musical CBS Films
is currently toying with redoing? Would you believe “My Fair Lady”?

Yep, CBS Films now has a remake of this Academy Award-winner
on its development slate as a possible co-production with Columbia Pictures.
And given that Julie Andrews missed out on the chance to appear in the original
Warner Bros. version back in 1964 … Well, wouldn’t be cool if CBS Films /
Columbia Pictures tried to make up for that oversight by offering Andrews a
role in the remake? As – say – Henry Higgins’ mother?

Wouldn’t it be loverly – after all these years – if Julie
Andrews did finally get to appear in the motion picture version of “My Fair
Lady”?

Your thoughts?