It’s no secret that Luke Evans’ turn as Gaston in this year’s Beauty and the Beast was one of the film’s highlights. Unfortunately, the story dictates he must die a horrible death because he’s such an evil arsehole. Turns out though, the team behind the film considered an intriguing alternative.
Speaking to The Wrap, co-writer Evan Spiliotopoulos said an early version of the script didn’t kill Gaston. Instead, it kept him alive in a way that left the door open for a possible sequel.
“The idea was not that he died in the end, but the enchantress would come and he would be cursed as the new beast,” Spiliotopoulos said. Apparently, the plan was for him to “run off into the world as the new beast, whether to be redeemed or come back as a villain” and talks went “very far” to actually executing that. However, at the “eleventh hour,” Disney changed its mind and decided to go with the traditional ending.
Which, let’s be honest, is probably for the best. Fans went to see Bill Condon’s sumptuous musical not for a new story, but to be wowed by a new version of the same story. And that’s exactly what the film delivered, to the tune of well over a billion dollars worldwide.
But the idea of Gaston as a new beast, desperate to find his own Belle? Well, that does make the imagination twinkle, doesn’t it? And hey, just because Gaston is dead, doesn’t mean we still can’t do the prequel film.
[The Wrap]