The Lion King #1

The Lion King

The Lion King is an upcoming American drama adventure film[1] produced by Walt Disney Pictures, written by Jeff Nathanson, and directed by Jon Favreau. It is a photorealistic computer-animated remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film of the same name. The film features the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, John Oliver, Keegan-Michael Key, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones.

Plans for a remake of The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 following the success of Favreau's remake of Disney's 1967 animated film The Jungle Book. Much of the main cast signed on in early 2017 and principal photography began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles. The film is scheduled to be released on July 19, 2019.

Development

On September 28, 2016, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed that Jon Favreau would be directing a fast-tracked remake of the 1994 animated film The Lion King, which would feature the songs from the 1994 film, following a string of recent box office successes on the other Disney remake films such as Maleficent, Cinderella, Favreau's The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast with the latter three also earning critical praise.[3] Later on October 13, it was reported that Disney had hired Jeff Nathanson to write the screenplay for the remake.[4] In November, talking with ComingSoon.net, Favreau said the virtual cinematography technology he used in The Jungle Book would be used to a greater degree in The Lion King.[5] Although the media reported The Lion King to be a live-action film, it actually utilizes photorealistic computer-generated animation. Disney also did not describe it as live-action, only stating it would follow the "technologically groundbreaking" approach of The Jungle Book.[6]

Casting

In mid-February 2017, Donald Glover was cast as Simba, with James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa from the 1994 film.[7]

In April, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen were cast to play Timon and Pumbaa respectively.[8] In July, John Oliver was cast as Zazu.[9] In August, Alfre Woodard and John Kani were announced to play Sarabi and Rafiki, respectively.[10][11]

Earlier in March, it was announced that Beyoncé was Favreau's top choice for the role of Nala and that the director and studio would be willing to do whatever it took to accommodate her busy schedule.[12] Later on November 1, her role was confirmed in an official announcement,[13][14] which also confirmed that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play the role of Scar as he had impressed Favreau after watching his antagonistic performance as Baron Mordo in Doctor Strange (2016). Other stars Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, and Keegan-Michael Key will be the voices of Azizi, Shenzi and Kamari while JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph will be the voices of young Simba and young Nala, respectively.[15][16][17][18] In November 2018, Amy Sedaris was announced as having been cast in a role created for the film.[19]