Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast is still the highest grossing movie of the year, but one has to wonder how much money it might have made if it had one of the biggest stars in the world playing a part. Beauty the Beast was directed by Bill Condon, who also directed Beyonce in the only musical she's ever done, Dreamgirls. Now, the director says that he tried to get the star to join his cast for Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately, the role he had available just wasn't big enough for a star of her level. According to Condon...
I even tried to get her into Beauty and the Beast, but it wasn't a big enough part. She would have been a good feather duster.
Bill Condon says that Beyonce should really be at the top of any director's list when they're casting a musical. He tells Yahoo that she was absolutely on his radar for Beauty and the Beast. It's not clear if the role was turned down for being too small, or not offered for the same reason. It's understandable either way. You don't bring Beyonce into your movie, especially a musical, without giving her plenty to do. While Plumette the feather duster, who ended up being played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, did have a chance to sing in the live-action film, she's not a major character and doesn't have her own song at any point in the film, which would seem to be something you'd need to have with Beyonce in a role. Still, watching Beyonce flirt with Ewan McGregor could have been fantastic.
While Beauty and the Beast was not able to score Beyonce, it ended up not being a huge loss to the production. The film, which was released in March, is still the highest grossing movie of the year, both domestically and worldwide. As we sit here in October there are only a couple of films that even have a chance of overtaking it before the year comes to a close.
Of course, Disney has lots of other musicals, both of the animated and live-action variety, on the way in the years to come. It seems like the two pop culture juggernauts are destined to come together at some point. Beyonce and Disney could sound amazing together. In the right role, a Disney movie with the voice of Beyonce, whether or not we ever see her, could be a huge hit.
Disney will be taking 2018 off of the live-action remake business but will be back in 2019 with both remakes of Dumbo and Aladdin, the latter of which is confirmed to be a musical. Beyonce isn't signed on to that one either, but they'll need somebody to sing the radio version of "A Whole New World," right?
