Josh Gad Embraces Luke Evans After Wrapping Walt Disney's Live-Action Beauty and the Beast—See the Picture!

Plus, Bill Condon explains why the 2017 movie will be a musical, just like the 1991 animated version

By Zach Johnson Jul 29, 2015 1:10 PMTags
Josh Gad, Luke EvansInstagram

Gaston has never been this nice to LeFou!

Josh Gad announced via Instagram Wednesday that he has officially wrapped production on Walt Disney Pictures' live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Embracing Luke Evans on the steps of Beast's castle, he wrote, "That's a wrap! Will miss the cast of #beautyandthebeast especially my brilliant Gaston #LukeEvans."

Sadly, neither actor appeared to be in costume.

The actor also filmed a Snapchat video for Disney. "Hey, there! I'm Josh Gad and I just wrapped production on Disney's Beauty and the Beast, coming at you in 2017. Here's a sneak peek," he said just before singing, "No one fights like..." Of course, fans of the 1991 animated musical will recognize the line from the song "Gaston."

Gad actually finished shooting Monday and tweeted a collage of the animated characters. "That a wrap for me on #BeautyAndTheBeast!!! Can't wait to share the magic we have cooked up for you," he told his 140,000 followers.

Beauty and the Beast is scheduled for release on March 17, 2017, and features an all-star cast that includes Kevin Kline (Maurice), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Plumette), Audra McDonald (Wardrobe), Ewan McGregor (Lumière), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), Dan Stevens (Beast), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts), Stanley Tucci (Cadenza) and Emma Watson (Belle). Stephen Chbosky wrote the film's script.

Bill Condon recently discussed his decision to direct the film. "Between Dreamgirls and the screenplay for Chicago, I think I've been fortunate to be around during an interesting moment in the resurgence of the movie musical. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules to the form, except that hopefully, the songs are good, and they move the story forward," he told Vanity Fair. "When I first spoke to Disney about doing Beauty and the Beast, they actually weren't sure they were going to do this new version as a musical, and I said, 'With all due respect, I think you're crazy. The songs are too good. You're going to spend all this time making a huge, gorgeous live-action Beauty and the Beast and not do 'Be Our Guest?'"

Condon said he didn't have the cast perform songs from the animated original, like "Belle" or "Something There," for their auditions. "I had them all sing 'Hakuna Matata,' just to confuse them," he said, referring to the famous Lion King song.

Watch: Emma Watson's Call to Action

Regarding Belle and the Beast's iconic ballroom dancing scene, in which Mrs. Potts sings the titular ballad, Condon teased, "It was one of the first scenes we shot, and it was really magical." In fact, he said, "You will believe a beast can waltz."

As was the case with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 2010 and Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella in 2015, Condon's live-action version of Walt Disney Pictures' Beauty and the Beast will differ slightly from its animated predecessor. "I wouldn't say we're changing the story so much as sort of making connections that in a lot of cases were right under the surface. Honestly, there are so many people who love the original film and love the Broadway show, and they've had two decades now to pick them apart and point out big questions and plot holes, and in a lot of places we looked at those and said, 'Hey, that's a good question,' or 'That's an excellent point, why don't these townspeople know anything about this huge castle that's like a mile away from their village?,' and used those as jumping off points for our own discussions," the 59-year-old filmmaker told Vanity Fair. "So hopefully, this will be a film where a die-hard fan can jump up and say, 'Exactly!'"