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‘Beautiful Creatures’ with Viola Davis Being Readied for February Release

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day: A delicious Southern gothic supernatural tale involving star-crossed lovers.

Director Richard LaGravenese is hard at work in a film editing room in Los Angeles getting Beautiful Creatures ready for its Feb. 13 release. Based on the first novel of the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the movie just might mark the beginning of the next Twilight franchise.

At first, LaGravanese was bothered by the comparisons with that franchise, but then he realized that with careful consideration about casting and material, it wouldn’t be a concern. “When you see the movie, you’ll know it’s not Twilight,” he says. Beautiful Creatures stars Viola Davis, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, Emma Thompson and newcomers Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert (daughter of The Piano director Jane Campion).

Among the differences: humor, family history, and a story that is “about a strong female, not a female who has to be rescued by anyone.” The director notes that the movie will show “many more themes and colors,” adding that to help create the brighter world, “our references were paintings.”

Filmed in Louisiana from March through June, the movie is about small-town guy Ethan (Ehrenreich) and mysterious newcomer Lena (Englert). He is a mortal, and she is a Caster who can do magic. On her 16th birthday, which is nearing, she will be chosen for either Light or Dark. Nobody knows which will claim her, so the pair try to break the spell…

Read more: USA Today

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