‘Beauty and the Beast’ Director on How ‘La La Land’ Is Bringing Musicals Back

A longtime fan of movie musicals, Bill Condon wasn’t fazed when Disney entrusted him with turning the 1991 animated Beauty and the Beast into a $160 million live-action movie starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens (opening March 17). But transferring the hand-drawn classic into a 3D world took nearly three years, requiring six months of R&D before preproduction even began. “There was a lot of trial and error,” he admits.

A version of this story first appeared in the March 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.