It looks like Disney may not have completely given up on a spinoff movie from their live-action version of Beauty and the Beast focusing on the villain of the movie, Gaston. According to a new report by Deadline, Disney is now in the early development stages of a "swashbuckling" new movie based on the character who first appeared in the 1992 animated classic.
Currently, details are as scarce as you would expect, but the report suggests that this will not be looking to bring back Luke Evans in the role of Gaston, after he played the character in the $1 billion hit remake that was released in 2017. There are no plot details currently known, but Dave Callaham will be scripting, with Michelle Rejwan producing.
This is not the first time that a spinoff project focusing on the classic villain has been considered, so it will be interesting if the new movie can manage to make it beyond the planning stages this time.
What Happened to the Last Gaston Spinoff?
Word of a spinoff TV series prequel to Beauty and the Beast began back in 2020, but by 2022 the whole project appeared to have been put permanently on the back-burner in favor of other movies and shows. While the show, under the title of Little Town, was said to already have scripts written, would have seen the return of Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as his sidekick Lefou, and added several cast members and new music from Alan Menken, it very quickly fell apart just a few months after seemingly setting a filming start date of spring 2023.
Josh Gad finally explained in September 2022 that the series' biggest problem had possibly been it was too ambitious. He said at the time:
"I think that Luke [Evans] and I are still very much interested in the story. There were elements that were really, really stunning and really brilliant. It's that blessing and curse of, when you're doing something as big and as ambitious as a Beauty and the Beast prequel, and you're getting to play with the crown jewels, it's gonna be an expensive undertaking. In terms of ambition and scope, and trying to marry it to one of the most expensive movies in the Disney library, its ambition ran away with it. There are ways that we can tell this story and live up to the promise of what it can be, but also do it in a way that won't break the bank. Ultimately, I think that will be the way forward. I hope we get to do it. I know we're still very interested. There's some amazing stuff that Adam [Horowitz] and Eddy [Kitsis] did, and that Alan Menken did, that I hope audiences get to see and hear, one day."
It seems that audiences may get to see a Gaston project after all, but it will clearly not be the one that was well into pre-production when the plug was pulled on it. Whether there will be anything from the old project incorporated into the new one is something we can only wait to find out, but it looks like this will be a completely fresh take on the character and his story.
Beauty and the Beast Like Follow Followed PG Family Fantasy Romance Release Date March 17, 2017 Runtime 129 minutes Director Bill Condon Cast See All Emma Watson Belle Dan Stevens Beast Luke Evans Gaston Josh Gad LeFou
Writers Evan Spiliotopoulos, Stephen Chbosky, Linda Woolverton, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont Producers David Hoberman Prequel(s) Beauty and the Beast Franchise(s) Disney Genres Family, Fantasy, Romance Powered by Expand Collapse