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Wales Online
Lifestyle
Stephanie Colderick

Beauty And The Beast star Luke Evans' disappointment as prequel cancelled days after Rita Ora casting

Popular Welsh actor Luke Evans has expressed his disappointment and devastation that Disney's Beauty and the Beast prequel has been put on hold.

Luke played Gaston, the ghastly man trying to win Belle's heart, in the first film which was released in 2017, and starred Harry Potter actress Emma Watson as Belle.

You can read more film news here.

The film was a big success becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2017 and in 2020 it was announced that a Disney+ TV series focusing on Luke's character Gaston and his friend LeFou, played by Josh Gad, would be made.

However, just days after pop star Rita Ora joined the Little Town cast, the series has been postponed indefinitely due to creative and scheduling issues.

Luke took to Twitter to express his devastation at the series being put on hold, retweeting an article that announced the news, he said: "Sadly 'Tis true. We tried to make it all work but under the gun it wasn't meant to be...for now. These characters and this story will live on, but sometimes the best intentions & reality collide & nothing can be done."

He went on to add his clear sadness at the news: "This is a very sad message for us to tweet. We are devastated. Goodbye, for now, from Gaston and Le fou" with a red love heart emoji.

Production for the show was scheduled to begin in spring 2022 but had been pushed to summer, hoping to get better weather for filming.

It is unknown if the planned cast, including Luke and Rita, will star when the series is picked back up or if the series will be worked on again at all.

Currently, Luke is filming for the 2022 film Pinocchio, is set to star in the 2023 and 2024 Fast and Furious films, and has recently starred in the TV series Nine Perfect Strangers-you can read everything you need to know about the show here.

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