Emma Watson Won't Be Disney's Cinderella, But Is She Belle?

By: Kelly West

Alas, it seems Cinderella’s glass slipper wasn’t the right fit for Emma Watson. Less than two weeks after the actor was said to be in talks to star in the planned film, the Bling Ring star has reportedly decided not to star in Disney‘s live action adaptation of Cinderella.

Late last month, we learned that Watson was in talks for the lead in Disney’s planned Cinderella, which has Cate Blanchett on board to play the wicked stepmother. It looks like negotiations didn’t work out, as Variety’s Marc Graser, who originally broke the news that Watson might take the lead, hassince Tweeted that she “has decided NOT to star in Disney’s Cinderella.

He tweeted soon after that more details were to come. In the meantime, for a bit of speculation, I’m wondering if this might not be connected to therecent news that Disney was looking to “reinvent” Beauty and the Beast, with Trance writer Joe Ahearne eyed for the project. That piece of news broke just yesterday, which may be a coincidence when tied to this news, but maybe not, especially when you consider that Watson was set to star in a Beauty and the Beast adaptation as of last year. In fact, when we learnedthat Watson was up for the Cinderella role, it prompted us to question the status of her involvement in Guillermo del Toro‘s planned take on Beauty and the Beast. Was she planning on playing both princesses? Or were her talks with Disney an indication that Beast wasn’t going forward? We haven’t heard an update on del Toro’s project in a while, though, last fall, word was that it was supposed to be shooting sometime this year. Whether or not that’s actually happening remains unclear at present. Is there any chance Watson is eying the Belle role for Disney’s Beast project if del Toro’s isn’t going forward? All we can do is speculate at this point.