Luke Evans joins Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast

Welsh actor Luke Evans is set to star as Gaston in Disney’s live-action retelling of Beauty and the Beast, according to Variety. Evans starred in the most recent Hobbit films and will take on the part of the story’s villain who antagonises everyone around him, yet is famed for his dashing good looks. Watson will star as Belle, and the pair are sure to have some fiery stand-offs in the movie… we can’t wait to see what the Harry Potter star and feminist will make of Gaston’s notoriously sexist one-liners.

Director Bill Condon will take on the adaptation, hot on the heels of his version of the Sherlock story, Mr Holmes. Production is set to begin later this year.

The original film was released in 1991 by Disney and is often cited as one of the best from the studio, remaining one of only three animations to be Oscar-nominated in the Best Film category (the others being Up and Toy Story 3).

Evans will next be seen in Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise.