"Beauty and the Beast" Prequel Series Delayed

The Disney Plus "Beauty and The Beast" prequel series has been delayed.

The decision comes as the lead cast of the series had been assembled ahead of the planned summer 2022 shoot in the UK.

Sources disclosed that the decision not to proceed with the series was made for creative reasons, with the scripts and original music not coming together in the direction expected or running behind schedule.

The insiders noted that with the number of creative elements up in the air and the shoot’s start already pushed from early spring to summer, a decision was made to put the project on hold.

Sources added pushing filming further into the fall was not an option because of talent availability and weather concerns.

Luke Evans and Josh Gad headline the prequel, reprising their roles as Gaston and LeFou from the 2017 live-action blockbuster “Beauty and the Beast“.

It also stars Rita Ora, Briana Middleton, Fra Fee, and Jelani Alladin.

“Once Upon a Time” creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz will serve as showrunners alongside Gad, who will also serve alongside Kitsis, Horowitz, and EGOT-winner Alan Menken as exec produce, with the latter set to compose the soundtrack. Liesl Tommy will also exec produce and direct the pilot. Evans is credited as a producer. Gad, Kitsis, and Horowitz will also write scripts.

The series is set years before the Beast and Belle’s romance and follows Gaston and LeFou as they set off with Tilly, after a surprising revelation from her past surfaces, sending the trio on a journey filled with romance, adventure, and comedy.

“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.” Gad wrote on Twitter.

Set in the iconic kingdom of Beauty and the Beast years before the Beast and Belle’s epic romance, the series follows Gaston (Evans) and LeFou (Gad) as they set off with Tilly, after a surprising revelation from her past surfaces, sending the trio on a journey filled with romance, adventure, and comedy.

ABC Signature Studios is the studio on the Beauty and the Beast series, which hails from Disney’s Branded Television pision. Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack to the series.