Jon Favreau’s upcoming remake of The Lion King will bring back all your favorite characters from the Pride Lands – from Simba to Scar and everyone in between – and they’ll all be getting the live-action treatment for what appears to be another dazzling adaptation of a Disney classic.
If you don’t believe us, just check out the film’s first trailer above, which debuted today and teases the adventure that awaits us. Not to mention it also gives fans a small taste of the A-list voice cast that’s been assembled to bring this beloved story to life once more. You’ve got Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and James Earl Jones (Star Wars) voicing Nala and Mufasa, respectively, while Chiwetel Ejiofor is set to take on the role of the villainous Scar. And it gets even better, as Donald Glover (Atlanta, Solo: A Star Wars Story) is taking the lead as Simba, the lion who would be king, while Seth Rogen’s on board to bring to life the loveable Pumbaa.
Beyond that, though, everything on display here looks very promising. From the stunning visuals to the gorgeous cinematography and of course, that familiar music – it’s all featured prominently in this first trailer and we simply cannot wait to see more.
It’s no secret that Disney was on a serious hot streak back in the early 90s, with the run of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King widely seen as redemption for their animation output, which was at a low point for much of the 80s. As such, it seems pretty likely at this stage that Favreau’s upcoming remake will do gangbusters at the box office given how much of a built in fanbase it already has.
I mean, children of all ages still adore the original and their 90s-born parents are still in love with those toe-tapping songs and faux-Hamlet plot. If this upcoming adaptation can capture even half of the magic we saw in The Jungle Book remake, or the Beauty and the Beast one, then audiences are in for a good time when The Lion King arrives in theaters on July 19th, 2019.
