BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Emma Watson Officially Cast as Belle

This shouldn't come as a huge surprise, but Disney has just sent over a press release that confirms Emma Watson will be starring as Belle in the studio's live-action interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. This project has been in the works for years, with casting news going back to at least 2011. At one point, Guillermo del Toro was going to direct, but as you probably know, he's one of the busiest guys in Hollywood, so he had to bail and was replaced by director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn).

Watson seems like she'd be a great Belle (as a Harry Potter alum, she's obviously no stranger to acting in huge productions like this), and with del Toro's fingerprints still on this project, I have no doubt that this is going to skew more toward the original fairy tale and have a much darker feel than the studio's 1991 animated classic. Production should begin later this year. Do you think Watson would make a good Belle? Sound off below.