Kristin Kreuk, a.k.a.Smallville dvd‘s Lana Lang, has been cast in The CW pilot Beauty and the Beast. The show, inspired by the late ’80s Linda Hamilton-Ron Perlman series of the same name, will follow New York homicide detective Catherine (Kreuk) who discovers an unlikely ally in Vincent, a military vet turned into a beast by an experiment gone wrong. Forced underground by his appearance, the Beast acts as an avenging angel — including killing the man who murdered Catherine’s mother nine years before.

Ron Koslow, who created the original series, will return as Executive Producer alongside producers Paul Junger Witt, C. Anthony Thomas, Bill Haber, and new producers (and pilot scribes) Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper. The CW’s reboot will face off against another Beast pilot ordered by ABC last month. Gary Fleder, who is directing The CW’s pilot, will also executive produce ABC’s take on the “tale as old as time.”