Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book live-action remake was highly acclaimed by fans and critics alike and was a surprise hit for Walt Disney Pictures. It looks like Disney has found a new gold mine within its vast archive of beloved animated films with live-action remakes. Sequels and remakes are becoming a dirty word in Hollywood as fans often complain studios are out of new ideas. However, one simply cannot deny the magic found in 2016's The Jungle Book.
Disney is looking to find that magic again, but this time from its grandest masterpiece of all – The Lion King. Director Jon Favreau shared a new tweet on Friday, revealing a new project as well as some of the people he'll be working with:
Looking forward to working with this legend. #Mufasa pic.twitter.com/1LszbWrcYT
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
That's right, it looks like James Earl Jones will reprise his role as the regal King Mufasa. More interestingly is the casting choice of Simba: Donald Glover.
In the original animated movie, Matthew Broderick and Jonathan Taylor Thomas played the older and younger versions of Simba, respectively. Obviously, Glover is cast for the older role as well, but it will be interesting to eventually learn who will voice the younger.
We expect The Lion King to deliver a photorealistic CGI world similar to The Jungle Book . This time, without a human character like Mowgli to convince the audience the world is real, it'll be up to the talents of James Earl Jones and Donald Glover to sell the pseudo live-action effect. The question now is will Jeremy Irons reprise the role as Scar?
