Well, that was quick: Disney+ has already called off the production of their Beauty and the Beast prequel series. Right after the lead cast of the eight-episode series had been assembled, Disney has decided that the series won’t move forward with the planned summer 2022 shoot in the U.K. But no one says no to Gaston!
Per Deadline‘s reporting, the decision to not proceed with the series was made for “creative reasons,” that the scripts weren’t coming together in the direction expected for pre-production. Further, the show’s original music creation was running behind schedule. Considering the number of creative elements up in the air and the shoot’s start already having been pushed from early spring to summer, Disney has now put the project on hold.
Disney couldn’t afford to push filming further into fall, due to weather concerns and lack of talent ability. Luke Evans and Josh Gad, who originally starred in the 2017 live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, were attached to headline the prequel. Briana Middleton, Fra Free, and Jelani Alladin were also set to star.
The proposed show was meant to be a prequel series serving up Gaston’s (Evans) backstory ahead of the Beast and Belle’s epic romance. With LeFou (Gad) and his step-sister Tilly (Middleton), the show was to follow the unlikely trio after a surprising revelation about the latter’s past came to life. Now, with zero points for Gaston, it seems the project will never see the light of day.
Beauty and the Beast was developed and written by Gad alongside Once Upon a Time creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, with all three serving as executive producers and co-showrunners.
Tony Award-nominated director Liesl Tommy was to direct the first episode, with EGOT Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who scored both the 1991 and 2017 Beauty and the Beast films, attached to write the soundtrack. Oscar-nominee Glenn Slater, best known for his work in Tangled, was tapped to pen the lyrics for the first episode.
