''Beauty and the Beast'' which is all set to be released on Mar. 17, 2017 is a much awaited movie from the distributer Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It will be set in 3D and is expected to do extremely well in the box office.

This movie is based on the 1991 Disney animated musical film which was written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Bill Condon will direct the film and the writers of the screenplay are Evan Spiliotopoulos and Stephen Chbosky. Techinsider reported way back in Oct. 2015 that this movie will have an ensemble cast and Disney had confirmed the release date.

Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as The Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as LeFou, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Audra McDonald as Garderobe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Babette, Nathan Mack as Chip Potts, Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque, Hattie Morahan as Agathe the Enchantress, Henry Garrett as the King and Harriet Jones as the Queen will be the main cast of this American romantic fantasy film.

The ensemble cast news was announced on Watson's Twitter page and The Hollywood Reporter too talked about it in details. "I'm finally able to tell you ... that I will be playing Belle in Disney's new live-action Beauty and the Beast! It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I'll get to dance to 'Be Our Guest' and sing 'Something There.' My six year old self is on the ceiling - heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons. I can't wait for you to see it," Watson wrote on Facebook.

The principal photography on the film began on May. 18, 2015. The collider and SSN insider talked in details about the start of the filming of ''Beauty and the Beast''at Shepperton Studios in London. The plot too was revealed by them. ''In this live-action re-imagining of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," a young woman takes her father's place as prisoner in a beast's castle, only to fall in love with her beastly captor, who turns out to be a prince'' is what SSN mentioned.

Now the countdown has begun for the release of this much hyped film. Watch this space for more updates on the upcoming movies and the life and work of Emma Watson.