British pop star Rita Ora is joining Disney+’s Beauty and the Beast prequel series.
Ora, who is best known for pop hits such as Your Song and Anywhere, will play a fugitive with surprising abilities who carries with her a secret that could potentially affect an entire kingdom in the eight-episode limited musical series.
A regular fixture on British musical reality series, Ora has previously starred in Fifty Shades of Grey as well as starring as the Artful Dodger in 2021 feature film Twist.
She joins Luke Evans and Josh Gad, who are reprising their roles as Gaston and LeFou. Briana Middleton, Fra Fee and Jelani Alladin also star.
2022 Disney+ Pilots & Series Orders
Beauty and the Beast was developed and written by Gad and Once Upon a Time creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, with the trio serving as executive producers/co-showrunners.
Set in the iconic kingdom of Beauty and the Beast years before the Beast and Belle’s epic romance, the series will follow Gaston (Evans) and LeFou (Gad) as they set off with LeFou’s step-sister, Tilly (Middleton), after a surprising revelation from her past comes to light, sending the unlikely trio off on an unexpected journey filled with romance, comedy, and adventure. While the mysteries of the past are uncovered and the dangers of the present grow, old friends and new enemies reveal that this familiar kingdom harbors many secrets.
Tony Award-nominated director Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed) will direct the first episode. EGOT Award-winning composer Alan Menken, who scored both the 1991 and 2017 Beauty and the Beast movies, is writing the soundtrack of the series, with lyrics for the first episode by Oscar-nominee Glenn Slater (Tangled). Tommy, Menken and Evans are also executive producing.
Beauty and the Beast is from Disney Branded Television and ABC Signature. Production will begin in spring 2022.
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