Ian McKellen joins Disney reboot of Beauty and the Beast, will play Cogsworth

From Middle Earth to Magneto, Ian McKellen is now lending his thespian gravitas to a clock.

Variety reports that the British actor has signed on to play Cogsworth in Disney's live-action reboot of 1991 animated classic Beauty and the Beast. The film, which has a March 2017 release date, will also star Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Josh Gad.

You may recall that Cogsworth's best bud among the furniture options was Lumiere, so now we just have to hold out hope that Disney offers up a bit of art-imitating-life casting and lands real McKellen bestie Patrick Stewart for the role.

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