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Last summer, we brought you news that Guillermo del Toro (PACIFIC RIM) would be producing a new live-action rendition of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale with Emma Watson attached to play the Beauty.

Well, now let's solidify that a little bit more by reporting that del Toro will now direct the project - now known as BEAST - and that Watson is now in final negotiations to take on the female lead role.

According to Variety, del Toro - who's still producing alongside Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan - will write a treatment that will then be handed over to writer Andrew Davies (BBC's "Pride & Prejudice") to turn into a screenplay. Not much else is known about the project except that del Toro plans on keeping the story within a period setting.

What does this mean for the long-awaited AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS? Many believed (read: hoped) that film would be his follow-up to the currently filming monsters vs. robots epic PACIFIC RIM, though that may no longer be the case.