A Beauty and the Beast limited prequel series is in the works for streaming service Disney+, centering on an origin story for the villainous duo Gaston and Lefou. Musical theatre alum Luke Evans and Tony nominee Josh Gad would reprise their roles from the 2017 live action film adaptation of the animated original, with composer Alan Menken providing new original songs. The news, as of yet unconfirmed by Disney, was reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The six-episode series comes from Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, with Gad serving as co-creator, writer, and showrunner. The story would focus on the pair long before the events of the original film, and there's no indication that Emma Watson or Dan Stevens (Belle and the Beast in the 2017 film) would be involved.
The 1991 animated film was the second Disney cartoon to feature a full score by Little Shop of Horrors collaborators Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. It went on to become a hit with critics and at the box office, becoming the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and being described by New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich as "the best Broadway musical score of 1991."
Disney then adapted the work into a stage musical, their first outing on Broadway, in 1994.
The series would become one of many Beauty and the Beast-related content pieces on Disney+, which already is home to both of Disney's film adaptations and an Encores episode documenting a reunion of cast members from a high school production of the stage adaptation.
The platform's High School Musical: The Musical: The Series will also dramatize the trials and tribulations of East High's production of Beauty and the Beast throughout its upcoming second season.
