For Jon Favreau’s upcoming reboot of The Lion King, all your favorites from the Pride Lands – from Simba to Scar and everyone in between – will receive the live-action treatment in what promises to be the most star-studded Disney movie ever made.
We’re not kidding, either. One glance at the casting docket reveals that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and James Earl Jones (Star Wars) have agreed to voice Nala and Mufasa, respectively, while Chiwetel Ejiofor is poised to take point as the villainous Scar. And it gets even better, as Donald Glover (Atlanta, Solo: A Star Wars Story) will star in Disney’s rebooted fairytale as Simba, the lion who would be king, while Seth Rogen’s on board to bring to life the loveable Pumbaa.
It’s a role he’s pretty excited about, too, as in a recent interview with ET, the actor revealed that the whole experience has been surreal and thrilling for him. Especially because Favreau’s a very close friend of his.
It’s thrilling! It’s amazing for many reasons. One is because I’m a big fan of The Lion King. Two is because it’s the most expensive movie I’ll have anything to do with probably, so that’s thrilling. Jon Favreau, the director, I’ve known since I was 18, is a very close friend of mine. So again, it’s always exciting to get to work with people that you know well. Yeah and we’re good friends. Overall it’s surreal. It will be weird when it comes out.
With pre-production now underway, it shouldn’t be too much longer before we get a proper look at the movie, but it’s certainly nice to see Rogen’s enthusiasm for the project in the meantime, which will certainly work its way into his performance, too. But it’s not just the voice talent that we have to look forward to here. Far from it, in fact.
Behind the scenes, Jeff Nathanson (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) is the screenwriter attached to the latest draft of the script, while both Beyoncé and Elton John will assist with the music, and after the back-to-back success of The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, the Mouse House will no doubt be hoping to make it three for three with their live-action remakes.
Of course, The Lion King is just one of a whole host of classic Disney animated properties being given a new coat of paint. Others on the way include Dumbo, Mulan and Aladdin. The tale of the flying elephant is first out the door, with a release date of March 29th, 2019. The story of Simba and his pals is then set to land in cinemas on July 19th.
