Vanessa Hudgens snatches the Beastly role

Washington (ANI): Actress Vanessa Hudgens will star opposite Burberry model Alex Pettyfer in a Beauty & The Beast update.

The 19-year-old is the front-runner to land the role Zac Efron was once considered for, reports Contactmusic. Hudgens will play the romantic lead in director Daniel Barnz's modern take on the fairytale, Beastly.

Beastly is based on Alex Finn's novel of the same name. Pettyfer, who starred in Wild Child opposite Emma Roberts, is all set to play her beast.