Dan Stevens joins Beauty and the Beast

Downton Abbey star, Dan Stevens, is reportedly joining the cast of Disney's upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. Stevens has been cast as The Beast (aka, Prince Adam) while Dracula Untold star Luke Evans has been cast as Gaston. Stevens and Evans join the previously solo cast member, Emma Watson.

So far this cast is all British so I would expect that trend to follow with future characters that will be cast. Twilight director Bill Condon is on board to direct with the film being produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.
Beauty and the Beast is joining a list of animated classics being adapted into live-action movies. Kenneth Branagh's version of Cinderella hits this month while we've already gotten an adaptation for Maleficent along with the loosely based Disney musical, Into the Woods. 

Luke Evans exits The Crow reboot

Thank you, Jesus.

Dracula Untold star Luke Evans has officially dropped out of the planned reboot of The Crow to pursue other projects. Director Corin Hardy and Relativity Media now has to find a new lead actor once again.
Originally Tom Hiddleston was a favorite contender for the role and the first director set for this film departed shortly after Evans was cast. As a result there was not a release date or even a production starting date announced, so it's not really a surprise that Evans has now exited. Well, that and the fact that Dracula Untold looked, and apparently was, horrendous.

The role of Eric Draven was originally played by Brandon Lee back in 1994. Lee was accidentally killed on set during filming and the film reached cult status after its release. I personally think they should take this as a hint and not reboot The Crow, but that's why I don't work in Hollywood. Hopefully they find someone decent or manage to cast Hiddleston.

Luke Evans to star in The Crow

After courting Alexander Skarsgard, Tom Hiddleston, and James McAvoy it appears that The Crow finally has its new Eric Draven.

Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6, The Hobbit) has evidently beat out the rest and landed the role. Evans will juggle The Crow with the rest of his schedule which includes The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, and press for Fast & Furious 6. He also signed on for a lead role in Dracula: Year Zero. Relativity Media has agreed to push filming back until early 2014 to accommodate his schedule.

I have to admit that I have never heard of Luke Evans nor have I seen him in a movie before. While looking at his IMDB page I realized that I haven't seen any of the movies he has been in. I have absolutely no idea what to expect and would have rather had Tom Hiddleston. I'm back to being completely uncomfortable with this whole thing.