#Gaston Disney+ Series Already Has Scripts and New Alan Menken Music

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast may have centered on the love story between Belle and her beastly prince, but audiences loved the supporting characters of both the animation and its live-action reboot just as much as the main leads. One such character, Gaston played by Luke Evans, proved so popular that he is getting his own Disney spinoff. In an interview with Collider, Evans explained how his kinship with co-star Josh Gad from the film made the possibility of the spinoff a reality.

“Josh and I, even when we were working on Beauty and the Beast, I recall, as two human beings, we liked each other a lot. We made each other laugh, we respected each other’s talent, and we had a great time. Even then, we were talking about what we could do and wanting to find another project. We’ve been searching, for the last several years, projects and scripts and ideas and concepts.”

“In the back of our minds, we definitely had thoughts about revisiting Gaston and LeFou in a different story, obviously. So, when the idea really came to fruition and we got on board some incredible writers, Josh, especially, had an incredible idea that, once it was born, it just flew itself. And when we pitched the idea to Disney , they were very excited about it.”

In Beauty and the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston had at his side Josh Gad in the role of loyal sidekick LeFou. The character’s romantic inclinations became a subject of controversy when the film implied LeFou was in love with Gaston, with some critics saying the movie should have done more to explore that angle. The upcoming spinoff will allow the creators to address that complaint by exploring the relationship between Gaston and LeFou in detail, and Evans cannot wait to go on that journey with Gad.

“Now, we’re in fully-fledged development. The second and third episodes have been written and we’ve heard some of the music by Alan Menken. We’re just so honored to have him on board, writing the music, which is extraordinary, in itself. We feel so lucky to have this talented group of people creating a story about two much loved and much-hated characters, but that’s the excitement. There are a lot of questions about, where we will start? What we will tell? Who are these people? When you visit them, where will they be? So, it’s going to be a really fun experience. Me and Josh are literally vibrating with excitement to shoot it.”

Beauty and the Beast was released in March of 2017 as a live-action retelling of the animated classic, with Emma Watson in the role of Belle, and Dan Stevens playing the role of the beast. The film was a box office success, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide on a reported budget of $160 million, and holds a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is not yet known whether Stevens or Watson will be making an appearance in the Gaston spinoff. This news comes from Collider.

Topics: Gaston, Beauty and the Beast, Disney Plus, Streaming