Beauty and the Beast is getting the YA treatment

Beauty and the Beast is getting a live-action update, courtesy of Disney and Twilight director, Bill Condon.

Take a first look at Disney’s live-action Cinderella

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that the 1991 classic is being revamped and adapted by Perks of Being a Wallflower author, Stephen Chbosky. Though Disney has yet to comment on the latest news, Chbosky will be using songs and music from the long-running Broadway musical and the animated feature, also according to EW.

Of course, Beauty and the Beast is far from the only fairy tale getting a modern twist. Disney is, no doubt, hoping to continue banking on the wave of success that Maleficent brought with its successful gross of over $750 million worldwide earlier this year.

Director, Kenneth Branagh, is currently working on his adaptations of Cinderella, while fellow Hollywood heavyweight, Jon Favreau, is signed on to direct The Jungle Book.

Positive princess role models

And, of course, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast isn’t the only Beauty and the Beast currently in production. Warner Bros. also has plans to bring the story back to life with a retelling of its own. Still, Disney might have the edge, as the WB’s production seems to have stalled. Guillermo del Toro was initially set to direct the flick, with Emma Watson attached to star. Del Toro has since dropped out of the project and a new director has yet to be announced. Watson hasn’t said she’s out, but we’d imagine that if the project stalls for much longer, the Harry Potter actress may also jump ship. At least, now, there’s the opportunity for her to climb aboard another. She does, after all, have the look for Belle.

Live-action Beauty and the Beast: Our dream cast

Condon, on the other hand, seems like the perfect man to take on Beauty and the Beast for the Young Adult-crazed fans that head to the theaters in droves these days. As the director of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Breaking Dawn Part 2, he knows a thing or two about bringing fantastical and wildly popular stories to life.

Do you think Condon and Chbosky can pull off a Beauty and the Beast retelling worthy of a YA craze?