"Harry Potter" star Emma Watson is preparing to embark on a new fantasy.
The "Perks of a Wallflower" actress has revealed that "Beauty and the Beast," a big-screen retelling of the classic fairytale that's being written, directed and produced by Guillermo del Toro, is slated to begin filming next summer.
"We [del Toro and I] met a week or two ago, and we started working on the script, and it's going to go next summer," Watson told MTV. "It's so funny, obviously I've been doing a lot of other work, and I was nervous. I was like, 'Is this going to go away?' And Guillermo is so psyched about it, and he's like been thinking about it so much."
He's not the only one - after checking out del Toro's sketchbooks for the film, Watson admitted she's been chomping at the bit to get started ever since.
"I was like, 'Ah, this is killing me,'" said the actress. "I'm very excited."
Del Toro wrapped production on his now-undergoing-a-3D-post-conversion robots-and-monsters flick "Pacific Rim" (release date: July 12, 2013) earlier this year, so if what Watson claims actually pans out, "Beauty and the Beast" would be next up to bat for the director. We'll keep you posted.
