Stanley Tucci, who recently brought his trademarked smirk to the Frozen North in Fortitude, will soon be bringing his trademarked smirk to the demanding role of a talking grand piano in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. Variety is reporting that Tucci will play the “tortured maestro” Cadenza the grand piano, a newly-created character for the upcoming movie. Presumably his toothsome performance as Caesar Flickerman in the Hunger Games movies–where he seems to have more molars than humanly possible–persuaded the Mouse House that he could interpret what it’s like to have 88 keys better than anyone else.
Tucci is the latest addition to the Disney project, which includes Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts, and Ian McKellen as Cogsworth. At this point it’s not clear if the movie will indeed feature real live actors dressed up in silly costumes or if it will be a CGI-filled film about finding your inner beauty. Beauty and the Beast will roar into theaters on March 17th, 2017; Disney is obviously banking on luring audiences who aren’t interested in spending March 18th nursing Beast-size hangovers.
