Beauty and the Beast trailer: First look at Emma Watson as Belle in Disney's new live action film

Beauty and the Beast, live action style, reaches cinemas on 17 March 2017

The first trailer for upcoming Disney live action movie Beauty and the Beast has finally dropped, starring Emma Watson in the lead as Belle.

Bill Condon, best known for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, is directing the remake from a script by Stephen Chbosky, who directed Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Watson first announced her casting in January 2015, writing on her official Facebook page that the animated film was “such a big part of her growing up”. “My six-year-old self is on the ceiling, heart bursting,” she said. “Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

She is joined in the film by Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere and Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts. Josh Gad, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kevin Kline and Audra McDonald also star.

First released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast grossed more than $375 million at the global box office and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken will be re-recording songs from the original film along with fresh material from himself and Tim Rice.

The much-hyped reboot is set to reach cinemas on 17 March 2017, with Disney hoping it generates a similar success to recent live action hits The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Maleficent.