David Bridges
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Key Highlights
- New Film: Disney is developing a live-action film focused on Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
- Original Take: This project features a new actor and offers a fresh perspective on the character.
- Creative Team: The script is written by Dave Callaham, known for films like Mortal Kombat, while Michelle Rejwan is producing.
- Character Complexity: The film aims to explore Gaston‘s character beyond his villainous roots.
No one fights like Gaston, no one writes like Gaston, and apparently, no one spins off like Gaston. Disney is reportedly working on a new live-action Beauty and the Beast film that will center on everyone’s favorite spitting, egg-eating, muscle-bound creep, Gaston.
If this all sounds familiar, you’re singing the right song. Luke Evans played the villainous role in the mega-hit 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, and Disney began working on a Disney+ spinoff starring him and Josh Gad, who played Gaston’s buddy, LeFou. However, that was eventually scrapped, and this is a completely new take.
According to Deadline, which broke the news, this is a “new and original version with a new actor, and the film will have ‘swashbuckling’ tones to it.” Also, “the studio is high on the idea.”
Dave Callaham, who wrote or co-wrote films such as Mortal Kombat, Godzilla, Shang-Chi, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, is penning the script, and Michelle Rejwan, who produced multiple Star Wars films, is producing.
While the animated version of Gaston did have an odd charm to him, thanks to his silly, over-the-top confidence, ultimately, he was rather evil and unredeemable. The live-action version tried to change that by making him a war hero, but again, he was still kind of an ass. Why Gaston, out of everyone, is the choice to get a big swashbuckling adventure is beyond us. And, even Disney’s team finds a way to humanize and make him into a hero, which they clearly would if we’re going the Maleficent/Cruella route, wouldn’t that undercut the original films? Is Gaston really a big box office draw?
We aren’t too high on this idea, at least from this micro perspective, but the team of Callaham and Rejwan is encouraging. Each has done great work in established IP before. If they’re on board with this, we’d imagine there’s a good reason to do it. But we’ll see. It’s possible that no one’s slick as Gaston, no one’s quick as Gaston, and no one loses a bunch of money like Gaston either.
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Daniel Mercer
