Dan Stevens News

On Twitter Watch, Luke Evans wrote '@joshgad and I recording! My what a guy!!! That's Gastoooooooooooooon!!!! #beautyandthebeast '

Disney's live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST continues to add to its ranks! According to Variety, Stanley Tucci has joined the star-studded cast as 'Cadenza', a new character -- a grand piano described as 'a neurotic maestro.'

BEAUTY & THE BEAST is coming to the big screen again in a whole new way, with brand new songs!

On Twitter Watch, Josh Gad wrote ' that stage veteran and film star Ian McKellen has joined Disney's upcoming live-action adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as 'Cogsworth'. Set for a release on March 17, 2017, the beloved tale will be retold for the big screen with a modern live-action lens and the help of transformative CG magic. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star as Belle and the Beast/Prince respectively, and Luke Evans will play the role of Gaston. Emma Thompson has joined the cast as Mrs. Potts and Kevin Kline as Belle's father, Maurice. As BWW announced previously, Josh Gad will reportedly take on the role of Le Fou, with six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald playing Garderobe. Eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards for the 1991 animated classic, will score the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, which will feature new recordings of the original songs in addition to several new songs written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. Bill Condon will direct from a script by Stephen Chbosky, and the film will be produced by Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Production begins in May at Shepperton Studios in London. Disney also recently announced it will be creating live-action versions of MULAN and PINOCCHIO, joining reboots of THE JUNGLE BOOK, PETE'S DRAGON and WINNIE THE POOH. The live-action adaptation of CINDERELLA, starring Lily James, just hit the big screen this winter. McKellen was last seen on the big screen as 'Gandalf' in THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (a role he originated in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) and will soon appear in MR. HOLMES and THE DRESSER. He is also well known for his role as 'Magneto' in the X-MEN movies. The Olivier-winning, classically trained actor last starred on Broadway in NO MAN'S LAND and WAITING FOR GODOT opposite Patrick Stewart. Before that, he appeared in DANCE OF DEATH, IAN MCKELLEN: A KNIGHT OUT AT THE LYCEUM, WILD HONEY, IAN MCKELLEN: ACTING SHAKESPEARE, AMADEUS -- which earned him a Tony Award in 1981 -- and THE PROMISE. McKellen was a member of the Old Vic and has performed at the Chichester Festival, in the West End, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre and more. 1991's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was an animated musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the traditional French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont,Beauty and the Beast is the 30th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Additionally, it is third in the Disney Renaissance period. Starring Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson, Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast (Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster as punishment for his arrogance, and Belle (O'Hara), a young woman who he imprisons in his castle. The film also features the voices of Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury, who occupy supporting roles. The film was a box office success, and has since garnered over $424 million worldwide. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was nominated for several awards, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; it also received five additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, and three separate nominations for Best Original Song. Ultimately, the film won Best Original Score, while Best Original Song was awarded to its title song. In 2002, Beauty and the Beast was deemed 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant' by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In April 1994, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST became Disney's first animated film to be adapted into a Broadway musical. '

What a renaissance - again! Although the period beginning with THE LITTLE MERMAID in 1989 through to the doubleheader of POCAHANTAS in 1995 and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME in 1996 and ending with MULAN in 1997 is considered by House Of Mouse superfans and many entertainment enthusiasts as the official Disney Renaissance era - meaning the company once again came to major prominence as a direct result of its animated musicals - it very much looks as if an entirely new type of Disney rebirth is in the process of occurring, spurred on by the worldwide success of the esteemed company's most successful animated feature to date, the highly theatrical and Broadway pedigreed FROZEN. Of course, in any way matching an era which in addition to MERMAID, POCAHANTAS, HUNCHBACK and MULAN shepherded BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and THE LION KING from inspiration to actuality would be a high order, if not outright impossible, yet it seems that the recent, current and upcoming spate of ingenuously timed and expertly devised projects that Disney possesses at the moment could put them in that stratospheric level of uber entity once again in the industry - and in the hearts and minds of millions around the world, as well.

Audible Studios, a production arm of Audible.com, today announced the release of Aidan Gillen's new interpretation of Sun Tzu's classic military treatise, The Art of War. This recording of the legendary general and philosopher's best-known work by 'Game of Thrones' star Gillen is now available for download at www.audible.com/ArtofWar.

There is still some casting that is yet to be announced, but much of the cast has now signed on to take part in the much-anticipated film. Below, get to know the company and the roles that they will be playing!

This just in! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Audra McDonald is in final talks to join the cast of Disney's upcoming remake of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The six-time Tony winner will take on the role of 'Garderobe,' the wardrobe.

BroadwayWorld previously reported that Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Dan Stevens, and Rebel Wilson are in talks to join the upcoming rom-com HOW TO BE SINGLE, and now Variety writes that New Line is also courting NEW GIRL star Damon Wayans, Jr. to join its roster.

Today we are turning our attention to Disney's hotly anticipated new movie musical adaptation of BEAUTY & THE BEAST.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dan Stevens has nabbed the male lead in Disney's upcoming live-action, musical interpretation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: FISH IN THE DARK opens tonight, MULAN comes to Lincoln Center, Hugh Jackman appears on TODAY and more!

According to Variety, Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt have signed on for Universal's upcoming film THE HUNTSMAN. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan will helm the film.

Variety writes that upcoming rom-com HOW TO BE SINGLE is courting FIFTY SHADES OF GREY star Dakota Johnson, as well as Leslie Mann, Dan Stevens and Rebel Wilson, to join its roster.

The American premiere of Constellations, the acclaimed new play by Nick Payne, directed by Michael Longhurst, starring Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Golden Globe nominee for Nightcrawler; Brokeback Mountain) and two-time Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson (Golden Globe winner for Showtime's 'The Affair;' BBC's and PBS' Emmy nominated 'Luther'), opened on Broadway last night, January 13 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from ithe red carpet arrivals below!

A mysterious stranger befriends a grieving family, but his hidden past soon puts them all in danger in the edgy, suspense film The Guest, coming to Blu-ray Combo Pack with DVD and Digital HD with Ultraviolet today, January 6, 2015

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB actor Skyler Gisondo, who plays Ben Stiller's son in the comedy, received a little help last May in asking a young lady to be his prom date.

Entertainment Weekly has a first look at Jessica Chastain in Guillermo del Toro's upcoming gothic horror film CRIMSON PEAK. Check it out below!

All of our favorite exhibits return in NIGHT AT THE MUSUEM 3: THE SECRET OF THE TOMB.