In the tradition of Oz the Great & Powerful and Alice in Wonderland comes Beauty & the Beast.
At least that’s what it feels like, what with the announcement that Trance writer Joe Ahearne’s been tapped to tackle a re-envisioning of the story in the form of a treatment. Trance, the Danny Boyle-directed thriller about an art dealer so badly beaten he looks to hypnotherapy to regain his memories, sounds dark enough to make Ahearne’s hire intriguing. Mouse House could be looking at this adaptation to skew darker, as current plans reportedly indicate The Beast a likely title. Anyone who’s taken a gander at Trance’s trailer knows it’s a film with no shortage of twisted imagery.
The 1991 animated film is a personal favorite of mine, but it’s by no means sacrilege or unexpected that Disney’s back mining public domain territory once again. Announcements like this are to be expected when a film like Oz the Great & Powerful makes $80 million opening weekend. Here’s hoping they learn from that film’s shortcomings and introduce something new and fresh into this revisit. Ahearne’s hire suggests they could be doing exactly that.
Source: Deadline