‘Beauty and the Beast’ Live-Action Villain Spinoff ‘Gaston’ in the Works at Disney

Disney is hoping that audiences will want to be guests for a live-action Beauty and the Beast spinoff.

via: Variety

Disney is developing a live-action spinoff film about Gaston, the boastful, brawny antagonist in “Beauty and the Beast.”

The film will be written by David Callaham, whose co-writing credits include “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Plot details haven’t been confirmed, and a director hasn’t been hired.

Based on the French fairy tale, the story follows a bookish girl named Belle who falls in love with a tortured Beast and lifts a curse that’s left his kingdom populated by talking household objects. “Beauty and the Beast” was released in 1991 and became Disney’s highest grossing animated title at the time. A live-action take on the musical, starring Emma Watson as Belle, debuted in 2017 and was another huge financial triumph for the studio.

Gaston, who was introduced in the animated classic, is an arrogant hunter who doesn’t take the hint when Belle keeps rejecting his advances. He’s a hulking figure, in part because of his breakfast habits. (When he was a lad, he ate four dozen eggs every morning to help him get large, Gaston sings in the song that bears his name. And now that he’s grown, he eats five dozen eggs so he’s roughly the size of a barge.)

Luke Evans played Gaston in Disney’s 2017 live-action “Beauty and the Beast” remake but he isn’t expected to reprise the role. Instead, the studio is planning a fresh take on the character, complete with a new leading man.

Disney has revisited its classics to mixed commercial success. This year’s “Snow White” was a financial misfire, but the 2017 “Beauty and the Beast adaptation and 2019’s “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” were billion-dollar hits. Meanwhile “Cruella,” which debuted directly on Disney+ during the pandemic, was a well-received origin story based on the “101 Dalmatians” villain. Disney has announced the development of a live-action “Tangled” as well as a movie about Prince Charming (the love interest of many princesses) from “Wonka” filmmaker Paul King.