Although we had thought that the casting of Ewan McGregor as Lumiere earlier today marked the final major role left in Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action Beauty and the Beast, Variety now reports that Stanley Tucci has signed on to play a role created specifically for the new film. According to the trade, the Hunger Games franchise star will play a grand piano named Cadenza who, in their words, is “a neurotic maestro.”
The film is also set to star Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as Beast, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as LeFou, Kevin Kline as Maurice (Belle’s father), Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster.
Tucci, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, can soon be seen in Thomas McCarthy’s Spotlight before reprising his role as Caesar Flickerman for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
Eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards for the 1991 animated classic, will score the film, 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.
