New streaming service Disney+ is developing a six-part prequel series on Beauty And The Beast characters Gaston and his sidekick, LeFou.
The two characters, as played by actors Luke Evans and Josh Gad, featured in the hugely successful 2017 movie reboot, which starred Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stephens and the Beast. The movie took more than $1billion at the global box office.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney+ is working on the project with Once Upon a Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Gad will act as a co-writer, showrunner and executive producer. Evans will also serve as an executive producer.
The as-yet-untitled series will take place well before the events featured in the Beauty & The Beast movie, in which Gaston played the villain. Songs for the new show will come from veteran composer, Alan Menken.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Related: “Beauty and the Beast” will feature Disney’s first-ever “exclusively gay moment”
It remains to be seen how LeFou’s sexuality will be portrayed. For the 2017 movie, director Bill Condon prompted headlines with an interview he gave to Attitude magazine in which he said the movie would feature an, “exclusively gay moment.”
This turned out – spoiler alert! – to be visual hints that LeFou had a crush on Gaston, and LeFou dancing briefly with a man during a dance sequence in the movie’s finale. The two-second dance clip prompted countries such as Kuwait and Malaysia to refuse to screen the movie.
However, primed for some gay action, the non-event left most LGBTQ audiences loudly expressing, “Is that it?!”
Here’s hoping the new series delves a little deeper into LeFou’s sexuality and his feelings for Gaston. That said, given the involvement of Disney+, it’s perhaps best not to hold your breath.
The streaming service recently developed a sequel series to the movie Love, Simon, entitled Love, Victor. Due to premiere during Pride month this June, Disney+ recently announced it was switching the series to Hulu (which it owns) because of its “adult” themes, including the lead character’s exploration of his sexuality.
Related: ‘Love, Simon’ sequel set to debut on TV in June for Pride Month
Cam
In other words, they’ll have him acting like Jack McFarland on Will and Grace but won’t do anything else.
mz.sam
Sounds like a box office bomb.
Saps48
I only saw Beauty and the Beast once, when it was in the movies, and Josh Gad’s jarring performance really made me uncomfortable. It was so out of tune with the rest of the movie, it almost seemed gratuitous.
Josh447
Delish idea….