Dan Stevens to play the Beast in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast

It's been a month since there's been any news on Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast movie. The last really exciting thing announced was that Emma Watson would be playing Belle — an amazing choice that has us all very excited.

Now, Dan Stevens, whose big break came from Downton Abbey (and was my wife's favorite character until… something happened), will be playing the Beast/Prince in the film, opposite of Watson. This is a huge mainstream opportunity for Stevens, who last starred in The Guest, an action-thriller that he was absolutely fantastic in.

It's interesting that a Disney animation film set in France has a mostly British cast. We don't yet know how the Beast will look in the film, or whether it will be CG or Stevens in costume. The more important question is: is this going to be a musical? The only thing we've heard of that is when Emma Watson wrote to her Facebook page, "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."

Also, you know why the Stevens casting is perfect? He kind of looks like the Prince. See for yourself…

Stevens also took to Twitter to make a little announcement.

Bill Condon is directing the film, while David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing. Beauty and the Beast will begin filming later this year. While no release date is announced, it's safe to assume a late 2016, early 2017 release.

THR