Disney developing live-action Beauty and the Beast spin-off centred on villain Gaston
On the one hand, the live action Snow White remake absolutely tanked. On the other, the Lilo & Stitch one raked in more than $US1 billion at the box office.
Guess which lesson Disney took?
The animation powerhouse is in development on a spin-off movie based on Gaston, the arrogant villain from Beauty and the Beast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Disney has yet to confirm any details, but Deadline reported the spin-off is expected to be a reset and would have a “swashbuckling” vibe. It could follow the approach of the Angelina Jolie-led 2014 film Maleficent which rewrote the story of the Sleeping Beauty villain to turn the character into a misunderstood anti-hero.
Deadline suggested the film would not be a direct sequel to the 2017 live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Welsh actor Luke Evans played the character in that film, but the role is expected to be recast. Evans was previously linked to a TV series spin-off but that project didn’t eventuate.
The character originated in the 1991 animated version as a conceited hunter who desired Belle as his wife. He later attacks the Beast when he is rebuffed by Belle.
The 2017 Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, was a box office success and grossed $US1.26 billion worldwide.
Throughout the 2010s, Disney had a run of commercial hits with live-action remakes of its classic animated features. Films such as Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Aladdin and The Lion King sold enormous amounts of tickets.
Post-pandemic, Disney’s strike rate has been more inconsistent with only Lilo & Stitch reaching that billion-dollar mark. Anecdotally, there also seems to be audience exhaustion around the concept of live-action remakes.
But the studio has not abandoned the idea. A live-action version of Moana is due for release in July 2026 with Australian actor Catherine Laga’aia in the title role while Dwayne Johnson has reprised his voice role as Maui, but now in live-action.
There’s also a Lilo & Stitch sequel on the way.
