There's just one guy in town who's got a live-action spin-off in the works and his name's G-A-S-T-E…. G-A-S-T-O… oh… Gaston! Yes, four years after a Beauty & The Beast Disney+ prequel series based around expectorating specialist — and all-round wrong'un — Gaston was first announced, the House Of Mouse is pivoting to new, feature-length plans for its iconic villain. Per Deadline's reporting, a live-action Gaston movie is in development at the studio, with Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse co-writer Dave Callaham tackling the script and The Force Awakens and Andor producer Michelle Rejwan overseeing the project.
Now, to clarify up-top, this new Gaston movie is not the same thing as Josh Gad's now-canned prequel show, so there'll be no Gad and Luke Evans reteam this time around, and — as far as we know — it won't be a Gaston and LeFou musical adventure. Rather, it's Deadline's understanding that Callaham's script — previously drafted by Doctor Who's 'Rogue' duo Kate Herron and Briony Redman — will mark a move away from 2017's live-action Beauty & The Beast. As the trade reports, this will be "a new and original" film with a new actor playing Gaston and a "swashbuckling" tone, something which Disney's top brass are apparently very pleased about at this early developmental stage.
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Given the wildly differing results attained by Disney's past live-action villain outings, misfiring Sleeping Beauty off-shoot Maleficent (and follow-up Mistress Of Evil) and Craig Gillespie's surprisingly punchy Cruella, we'll wait with bated breath to see how this Gaston movie progresses. But with a solid writer and experienced producer aboard, and one of Disney's greatest love-to-hate villains front and centre, consider our curiosity piqued. Five hurrahs and twelve hip-hips pending!