It's a tale as old as time: sooner or later, Disney will find a way of bringing some of its most iconic animated properties to the screen again in live-action. There have been several classic movies retold in the last several years, from Cinderella to Aladdin. It's almost hard to believe that Beauty and the Beast initially premiered back in 2017, but looking ahead, Disney clearly has plans for that little town and quiet village: a spinoff prequel series featuring Josh Gad and Luke Evans has officially been greenlit to air on the streaming arm of Disney+.
When Collider had the chance to catch up with Gad in promotion of Season 2 of Central Park, we had to ask him about the plan for the show and what fans have to look forward to. "We're doing eight episodes," Gad shared, before going on to say that filming should begin early next year and that scripts are in the process of being finished. The actor, who also serves as a co-executive producer and writer on the series, almost couldn't contain his own excitement in telling us about the upcoming series.
"I can tell you right now that it is one of the most ambitious projects I've ever been a part of. Luke and I are so excited about bringing these characters back to life alongside a brilliant and unique new talent in Briana Middleton playing this incredible new character named Tilly. Liesl Tommy, who's our director, is planning to do some unbelievably ambitious things with this series as well as our showrunners, Adam [Horowitz] and Eddie [Kitsis], who are really, really, really going places I think audiences are not necessarily ready for. I cannot be more excited about this show. I think it's going to be enormously special."
In addition to Evans and Gad, longtime Disney composer Alan Menken also returns to work on this new prequel series, which will reportedly be called Little Town (although that title has not officially been confirmed). Stay tuned for more from our interview with Gad.