Bad News: The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Prequel Is Officially on Hold
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The year is 1991. People are crowded in front of their local movie theater (remember when we used to do that?) to catch the latest Disney flick: Beauty and the Beast. And sure, the love connection between dear heroine Belle and her ferocious yet also sexy Beast was a love story for the ’90s ages, but we’d be remiss to forget a certain handsome villain in our midst: Gaston. As his namesake song loves to dictate, “No one’s been like Gaston,” and who could blame us for maybe-kinda-sorta liking the guy? He’s all brawn and slight brains, which for a Disney villain is actually pretty tame!
Well, it’s now 2022, and after Beauty and the Beast’s hit 2017 movie remake, Disney was about to hit dive even deeper into Gaston's story. Our favorite antagonist was supposed to get his *own* prequel TV show/musical, exclusively on Disney+. But unfortunately, things have hit a bit of a speed bump, and the show won't be moving forward. Here's what we know.
First things first: What was this show supposed to be about?
Gaston, duh! In all seriousness, that’s a great question, and here’s what Disney had to say to the Hollywood Reporter about it:
“For anyone who’s ever wondered how a brute like Gaston and a goof like LeFou could have ever become friends and partners or how a mystical enchantress came to cast that fateful spell on the prince turned beast, this series will finally provide those answers…and provoke a whole new set of questions.”
According to the outlet, Gaston and LeFou’s story would have been limited to eight episodes, and would have features tons of hijinks, maybe some fighting, and a potential romance. Oh, and there were also allegedly some deep, dangerous secrets hidden within the familiar kingdom of Villeneuve that could have potentially spelled its doom.
Cool! But... what happened?
Weirdly, a few days after announcing Rita Ora had joined the cast (more on that below), Disney announced that the show had been put on hold. Apparently, filming had been pushed from this spring to this summer for weather reasons, but the "creative elements" of the show weren't going to be ready to accommodate that timeline, per The Hollywood Reporter. And some of the talent involved in the show weren't able to make that new timeline work, either. So basically, the timing wasn't right, and instead of merely postponing, the show has been put on hold.
Okay, don't love that. Who was supposed to be in the show?
If you’re somewhat familiar with the 2017 version of the story (as any true Disney fan should be!), then it won’t surprise you to hear that Luke Evans and Josh Gad were supposed to return to their roles of Gaston and LeFou, respectively.
Rita Ora was cast in the show days before it was put on hold. She was supposed to play "a fugitive with surprising abilities who carries with her a secret that could potentially affect an entire kingdom," according to Deadline. And Briana Middleton was expected to play LeFou’s stepsister Tilly.
So... it's never happening?
Sources close to Disney told THR that the show will eventually happen, but it's a real "believe it when we see it" situation.
Okay, so what am I supposed to do with this information?
Yeah, it's a bummer. But until we get any more concrete information about the show moving forward, Disney+ has both the 1991 and 2017 movies on its site, so how about you watch those right now?
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