<P> Beauty and the Beast is a 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, and co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films . The film is based on Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne - Marie Leprince de Beaumont's eighteenth - century fairy tale . The film features an ensemble cast that includes Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the titular characters with Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha - Raw, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson in supporting roles . </P> <P> Principal photography began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, United Kingdom on May 18, 2015, and ended on August 21 . Beauty and the Beast premiered on February 23, 2017, at Spencer House in London, and was released in the United States on March 17, 2017, in standard, Disney Digital 3 - D, RealD 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D formats, along with Dolby Cinema . The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Watson and Stevens' performances as well as the ensemble cast, faithfulness to the original animated film alongside elements from the Broadway musical, visual style, production design, and musical score, though it received criticism for some of the character designs and its excessive similarity to the original . The film grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the highest - grossing live - action musical film, and making it the highest - grossing film of 2017 and the 10th - highest - grossing film of all time . </P> <P> In Rococo - era France, an enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a coldhearted prince, a rose for shelter . When he refuses, she transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, and erases the castle from the memories of their loved ones . She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the curse will never lift unless he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls . </P> <P> Some years later in the small town of Villeneuve, Belle dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, an arrogant former soldier . Lost in the forest, Belle's father Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a birthday gift to Belle . Belle ventures out in search for him and finds him locked in the castle dungeon . The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice's place . </P>

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