--- description: Ian McKellen has starred in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'X-Men' title: Ian McKellen to Play Cogsworth in Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt877e6c4508d4f3c9/6987eabb55a8595992a8987b/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ian McKellen to Play Cogsworth the Clock in Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_ by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2015 2:58 PM CUT  Sir Ian McKellen Sir Ian McKellenGisela Schober—Getty Images by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2015 2:58 PM CUT Ian McKellen will [take on the role of Cogsworth the clock](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/beauty-beast-ian-mckellen-cogsworth-1201464763/ "undefined") in Disney’s new, live-action version of _Beauty and the Beast_. McKellen, popularly known for playing Gandalf in _The Lord of the Rings_ and Magneto in _X-Men_, will star alongside Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad and Emma Thompson, Variety reports. The film, set for a mid-March 2017 release, will be directed by Bill Condon, who helmed _Gods and Monsters_, _Dreamgirls_ and the final two movies in the _Twilight_ series. _Beauty and the Beast_ is just one of several live-action reboots in the making. Others include _Mulan_, _Winnie the Pooh_, _Dumbo_, _Pinocchio_, _The Jungle Book_ and _Pete’s Dragon_. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2015/film/news/beauty-beast-ian-mckellen-cogsworth-1201464763/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/"},"headline":"Ian McKellen to Play Cogsworth the Clock in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast","datePublished":"2015-04-11T14:58:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:19:53.246Z","description":"He'll star alongside star alongside Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Emma Thompson","url":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/","keywords":["movies","Disney","Beauty and the Beast"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt877e6c4508d4f3c9/6987eabb55a8595992a8987b/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt877e6c4508d4f3c9/6987eabb55a8595992a8987b/ian-mckellen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sir Ian McKellen","caption":"Sir Ian McKellen","creditText":"Gisela Schober—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/","name":"Ian McKellen to Play Cogsworth the Clock in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Most Iconic Movie Props Ever Sold","description":"With Premiere Props Hollywood Auction Extravaganza XIII set to sell some impressive Hollywood memorabilia, TIME looks back on how much some of the most iconic movie props have fetched.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6TcJ3ReX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-21T23:59:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6TcJ3ReX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/","duration":"PT2M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3818523/ian-mckellen-cogsworth-beauty-beast-disney/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```