Gaston (Live Action)

[PatchofBlue]

These early reports suggest that this is separate from both the canned Disney+ series and 2017 film.

(This article incorrectly cites the film as having been released in 1992).

https://deadline.com/2025/12/disney-liv ... 236648757/

Disney looks to be taking another one of its iconic villains and giving it the live-action spin, as sources tell Deadline the studio is in early development on pic centered on the Beauty and the Beast character Gaston.

Dave Callaham is writing the script with Michelle Rejwan producing. No director is attached at this time. Kate Herron and Briony Redman penned a previous draft.

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While plot details are vague for this version, sources say it will be a new and original version with a new actor, and that the film will have “swashbuckling” tones to it. Insiders say the studio is high on the idea.

Rejwan has a long-standing relationship with the studio going back to when she oversaw live-action at Lucasfilm. Among the projects she produced for the studio over the years include Star Wars: Force Awakens, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

I think just about any idea can work if executed properly. But my confidences on Disney's control unit aren't super high on this day.

My interest would flare, though, if it were confirmed to be a musical.

[UmbrellaFish]

I think Disney is trying to mine IP blockbuster material from the villains because of their successes with Maleficent and Cruella, plus the forthcoming Villains Land at WDW, but…

I just don’t think I can stomach Gaston’s brand of unctuous, narcissistic masculinity as the protagonist of a two hour movie. There are too many real world Gaston’s.

[Sotiris]

My interest would flare, though, if it were confirmed to be a musical.

It's not going to be a musical. You can tell just by the way the project is described in the report.

I just don’t think I can stomach Gaston’s brand of unctuous, narcissistic masculinity as the protagonist of a two hour movie.

Oh, his personality will definitely be toned down or even radically changed to make him more sympathetic like Disney did with Maleficent and Cruella.

I, for one, think this is an incredibly stupid idea. You can't turn Gaston into Jack Sparrow.

You want to produce a new swashbuckling action/adventure movie? Go adapt a property that's related to that genre and is conducive to that type of storytelling. Don't take a character from a beloved fairytale that has no connection to the material and contort him beyond recognition to turn him into an action hero.

You want to further exploit the popularity of Beauty and the Beast? Make a direct sequel to the 2017 remake! Disney already had a plan for a sequel where Gaston survived and got cursed into the new Beast by the Enchantress. Revive that treatment! Another option would be to make another remake. That would be a much more sensible plan than a Gaston reimagining. Even from a purely commercial perspective, Gaston as a standalone character does not have the fanbase of Disney's theatrical, larger-than-life villains like the Evil Queen, Maleficent, Cruella, Ursula, Jafar, etc. to carry a film by himself. There's simply not enough interest in the character to make this project financially viable.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'll see it. I would be more excited if Luke Evans was starring though, even if he's a little on the old side for a prequel.

Hopefully it has music, but I doubt they'll allow Menken to come back. The company has some weird thing about him, including all the company shills I've happened across in different online spaces over the years who do their best to attack anyone who doesn't like the disrespect / disdain the company's displayed towards him. I wonder if there could be some kind of anti-Semitism at play with the weird energy from both the company and some of the fandom in regards to Menken. It's not something that would've even entered my mind until the last few eye-opening years.

The odd thing is Gaston (like Hans and Frollo) is seldom even marketed like other villains. So it seems a bit out-of-nowhere for them to suddenly make a film centered around the character.