The romantic fairy-tale classic, Beauty and the Beast, is a tale as old as time.
But in a major first for Disney, it has been confirmed the new live-action remake will include another love story.
According to director Bill Condon, the film will feature Disney’s first openly gay character in LeFou, played by Josh Gad.
LeFou is the bumbling sidekick to the story’s main antagonist Gaston, played by Luke Evans.
“[He] is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” .
“He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realising that he has these feelings.”
Condon said the subplot would include “a nice, exclusively gay moment”.
“And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its pay-off at the end, which I don’t want to give away,” he said.
When asked to confirm the reports, Gad said on Twitter that he was “beyond proud”.
The film, which stars British actors Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as Belle and the Beast, will premiere in Australian cinemas later this month.
The official trailer has racked up more than 31 million views on YouTube since its release in November.
It comes 26 years after the release of an animated version of the story, which won two Oscars.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
