Disney has been releasing a wave of live-action remakes of their classic animated features over the last few years. While there are still many of those on the slate, we appear to be entering the next phase of this venture, as we’re getting sequels and spinoffs to the original films that expand the story. And one more that we can now report is in the works is a solo movie for Beauty and the Beast villain Gaston, as played by Luke Evans.
Sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us an Aladdin sequel is in development, which we now know to be true – have informed us that Disney is putting together a film based around the handsome hunter, with the project set to end up on the Disney Plus streaming service. And while details beyond that remain scarce, this news follows on from our previous report that another BatB spinoff is on the way, with this one focusing on the Beast’s years before he met Belle.
If the studio is indeed looking to expand the franchise, then a Gaston movie is a no-brainer. After all, they’ve already found success with other villain-centric films like Maleficent and have similar projects – see: Cruella – on the way, too. What’s more, Evans’ Gaston is easily one of the most popular villains from these remakes. Whereas fans criticized the depiction of, say, Jafar and Scar in Aladdin and The Lion King, everyone praised Evans for perfectly recreating the cartoon character.
Given that Gaston falls to his death at the end of the 2017 movie, this would no doubt be a prequel that’d explain how he got so egocentric and desperate to find himself a wife. Hopefully Josh Gad would be back as his faithful pal LeFou as well, but we haven’t had confirmation of that just yet. All we know for now is that Disney is eager to expand the Beauty and the Beast franchise and as soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to update you.
