The upcoming live-action remake of Disney animated musical "Beauty and the Beast" is still a long way off, but that hasn't stopped director Bill Condon from gushing about the flick.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair promoting his new film, "Mr. Holmes," Condon also dished about his work on "Beast," which is currently in production. According to the director, the film was almost completely different when he first signed on: Disney originally didn't want it to be a musical. Sounds ridiculous, right? Condon thought so, too.

"I said, 'With all due respect, I think you're crazy,'" Condon recalled of his conversation with the studio. "'The songs are too good. You're going to spend all this time making a huge, gorgeous live-action "Beauty and the Beast" and not do "Be Our Guest"?'"

Aside from that major redirection (thank god for Condon putting his foot down), not much will change for Condon's version of the story, aside from some exposition concerning some confusing plot points from the original.

"I wouldn't say we're changing the story so much as sort of making connections that in a lot of cases were right under the surface," the director told Vanity Fair. For example, the flick will explore the glaring question of "why don't these townspeople know anything about this huge castle that's like a mile away from their village?"

"Hopefully, this will be a film where a die-hard fan can jump up and say 'exactly!'" Condon said.

But that's peanuts compared with the main event: the dazzling ballroom sequence, which is one of the most iconic scenes in Disney history. According to Condon, his re-do will be worth the wait.

"It was one of the first scenes we shot, and it was really magical," Condon told Vanity Fair. "You will believe a beast can waltz."

We can't wait. "Beauty and the Beast" is set to hit theaters on March 17, 2017.

[via: Vanity Fair]

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images