Remember Christophe Gans? For a while, he was going to take over Hollywood; after Brotherhood of the Wolf became successful despite making no sense whatsoever, he was drafted to make Silent Hill into a movie. Then he disappeared for seven years. And now, apparently, he’s back making ill-advised adaptations!
Specifically, he’s applying his over-the-top style to the classic fairy tale of Beauty And The Beast. As he’s neither Walt Disney nor Jean Cocteau, it seems somewhat of a risky idea, but, hey, at least it looks pretty:
Admittedly, you could probably sell this as a Once Upon A Time spinoff with an absolutely straight face and get people to buy that until they heard the French, but it’s pretty clear Gans spent his usual amount of obsessive time on getting every detail exactly where he wanted it in terms of being over-the-top. And honestly, considering the French film industry isn’t exactly awash in funding these days, this looks like it cost twice what they actually spent on it, no mean feat in filmmaking.
That said, what’s up with these freaky-ass lemur/beagle people?
GAH! OK, we get it, they’re “adorable”, just make them go away! That thing looks like it’s trying to find its ticket to the Maury taping with Gizmo.
This doesn’t have a US release date yet, probably because they’re still ensuring Disney doesn’t try to sue them, but Warner Bros. is apparently planning to make it happen. But if nothing else, consider it one of the few effects-laden movies that you can bring a date to.