Slash Film and Indie Wire, plus a heap of other movie news sites, are reporting that Emma has snagged the lead role in an upcoming reinvisioning of “Beauty and the Beast”. The movie is currently being developed and produced by Guillermo del Toro of “Pan’s Labyrinth” fame. Emma has previously expressed that del Toro is one of her favourite directors to ‘Interview’ magazine in April 2009. Thank you to Josh for the tip.

Edit! ProductionWeekly.com are reporting that Emma has been confirmed for the lead role in “Beauty”. Guillermo Del Toro will direct the piece and Denise Di Novi is producing; it will be distributed by Warner Bros. and will be a retelling of the original “Beauty and the Beast” story. Emma nor her representatives have confirmed or denied Emma’s involvement.

Edit! At a press Q&A at Comic-Con 2011, ET!Canada Tweeted that del Toro confirmed that Emma was “in talks” for his “Beauty and the Beast” adaptation.

As for Beauty and the Beast, the fact of the film being developed is all we’ve got right now. While we don’t know the identity of the screenwriter, or indeed if anyone has written a script at this point, the fact of Guillermo del Toro’s involvement suggests that this will be a darker version than most. Perhaps something closer to the Jean Cocteau version, which has already influenced a legion of filmmakers? And with Harry Potter closed, Emma Watson is sure to be in demand, so there is serious incentive to lock up her participation and get the project moving forward now. We could very likely hear more about this later in the week from Comic Con. Read more at the source.

Undoubtedly, the new project will be a much more Del Toro-y take on the material than ever before, perhaps skewing for an older audience as Hermione is now all growns up and probably looking to try some edgier roles on for size. She’s already got two decidedly non-special effects heavy, non-franchise movies on the way with a role in “My Week With Marilyn” which hits this fall and she heads up the adaptation of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” which will land sometime next year. Read more at the source.