The director of the new Beauty and the Beast film says one character from the classic tale will explore his sexual orientation, culminating in a “gay moment”.
Bill Condon told Attitude magazine that manservant LeFou - played by actor Josh Gad - experiences romantic feelings for his boss, Gaston.
Condon says LeFou “is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston”.
Disney has shared a clip of the song "Gaston" from the upcoming film where LeFou sings, “For there’s no man in town half as manly / Perfect, a pure paragon” about the leading man.
“He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realising that he has these feelings,” says Condon.
“And Josh [Gad] 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. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.”
Fans have reacted excitedly to the news on Twitter:
