It seemed inevitable that Disney would look to expand the Beauty and the Beast brand after the enormous success of the remake, which has grossed over $800,000 million dollars in just two weeks, and now we have confirmation from Walt Disney Company CEO himself, Bob Iger. In an email sent to shareholders this morning, Iger confirmed that a prequel based on Gaston, played in the movie by Luke Evans, is in development. Plus, he hints at more movies set in the same universe. Take a look at an excerpt from the email below:

“Millions of fans worldwide have been rushing to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in theaters for two weeks now and they’re clearly happy with the product we released. That is why I’m happy to announce that a new movie, a prequel actually, revolving around the character Gaston is in development now. Luke Evans, who plays the character with gusto in the movie Bill [Condon] directed, will return.

It’s an idea we floated during the filming of the movie. That’s why there are so many mentions of ‘the war’. That’s what we’re going to see. And if it does well, who knows? There are several animated sequels to the original movie we’re looking at and there could be more news soon.”

What We Know (And Don’t Know)

We know Luke Evans will return to play the lead and it’s probably safe to assume Josh Gad will come back to play LeFou. And we know the movie will feature “the war” mentioned in this year’s movie. We don’t know of a writer or director and there’s no mention of Emma Watson or anyone else being in the new movie. Taking into account the Enchantress’s spell erases everyone’s memory of the Beast’s castle, some of the adventure could feature returning characters and not interfere with the main movie’s timeline. We also have no word on if it will be a musical or not! That’s important.

So, there you go. Iger is hinting at what essentially amounts to a ‘Beauty and the Beast Cinematic Universe’ in the style of what Marvel and Star Wars have successfully done also under the stewardship of the CEO. This joins Disney’s crowded schedule of 29 live-action movies based on, or spun-off, its animated classics.

So, are you excited for the Gaston prequel? What other characters do you think deserve spin-offs? Would you like to see the animated sequels made into live-action sequels? Will Disney ever make an original movie ever again?

Edited by: Hannah Wilkes