Everybody Showed Up for the Newest ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Poster
The Emma Watson-led Beauty and the Beast will come to theaters in a couple months’ time, but the cover version of the song as old as time needs to keep anticipation high until then. Watson did her part on Twitter earlier today by posting the first look at the latest theatrical poster for the live-action adaptation of Disney’s landmark animated film, perhaps the high-water mark of the Second Coming in the ‘90s. The new poster acts as an informal roll call for the new faces of this classic tale, including all the famous faces lending their likenesses to the film in one splashy design.
While the first poster emphasized the animated roots of the film, mimicking a recognizable frame from the 1991 Disney feature, this one fully embraces the live-action look of the upcoming release. Belle and the Dan Stevens-played Beast appear in profile opposite one another, with Belle coded as pure through the warm white light and the Beast coded as dangerous with blue darkness and shadow. (The peculiar facial design for Stevens’ beast is a bit reminiscent of Jean Cocteau’s even older La Belle et La Bete.) The deep ensemble, including the likes of Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Emma Thompson and Ian McKellen, all show up in the margins as their fancy French selves instead of their house-appliance physical prisons.
The poster has an altogether wintry feel, which naturally poses the question — how did they not release this in December? It kind of seems like a slam dunk, what with all the snow-frosted scenery and elegant Yuletide decoration and whatnot. We’ll see if audiences still feel festive come March.