Disney's new live action Cinderella is now playing in theaters, and the studio has another classic fairy tale adaptation on the way, Beauty and the Beast. We now are finding out a bit more information about the cast of that film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Gad has been cast as Le Fou in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Le Fou is Gaston's bumbling sidekick in the original 1991 movie.
Gad is known for doing the voice of Olaf in Frozen, in addition to appearing in films such as Jobs, 21 and The Wedding Ringer. Gad also played the role of Elder Cunningham in the hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon for which he was nominated for a Tony award.
Gad will be joining Emma Watson, who will play Belle in the movie, as well as Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston. The movie will be directed by Bill Condon, known for movies like Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. The screenplay is written by Stephen Chbosky, known for writing both the book and movie version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
This is just one in a series of upcoming live action adaptations of Disney stories. Currently playing in theaters is Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella, which has received pretty positive reviews so far. Also in the works are The Jungle Book by Jon Favreau and the recently announced Dumbo by Tim Burton, as we previously reported.
It's unclear if the upcoming Beauty and the Beast will be based more on the classic French fairy tale or the 1991 animated movie, although it should be noted that the character of Le Fou was invented specifically for the original Disney movie if that's any indication.
Beauty and the Beast will hit theaters in 2016.
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