‘Beauty And The Beast’ Spoilers: Ian McKellen Guarantees Fans Will Be ‘Enraptured’ By Remake

The story of “Beauty and the Beast” is nothing new. In fact, it’s a tale as old as time.

However, Sir Ian McKellen, who plays talking clock Cogsworth in the new Disney remake starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, guarantees that the film will have fans “enraptured.”

“I've seen it, and [fans of the 1991 film] will be enraptured all over again,” he told The Irish Examiner, according to the Digital Spy.

Watson even said that the new film has a couple of surprises up its sleeves. For one thing, Belle has a fresh new backstory compared to the animated film.

“In the animated movie, it’s her father who is the inventor, and we actually co-opted that for Belle. I was like, ‘Well, there was never very much information or detail at the beginning of the story as to why Belle didn’t fit in, other than she liked books,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “Also what is she doing with her time? So, we created a backstory for her, which was that she had invented a kind of washing machine, so that, instead of doing laundry, she could sit and use that time to read instead. So, yeah, we made Belle an inventor.”

The Beast got a bit of a backstory in the animated film, but the remake will try to delve more into that.

“I suppose we see a little bit of his backstory. We learn a little bit more about this vain, spoiled, rich kid, son of a billionaire who treats women like objects and lives in a luxury tower,” Stevens revealed during a Facebook Live Q&A, according to the Evening Standard.

“Beauty and the Beast,” directed by Bill Condon, will hit cinemas on March 17. It will also star Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou.