UPDATE: Disney has announced that these photos are not real and completely unrelated to the film.
Mufasa returns, and he looks much more human this time around.
For in Jon Favreau’s reboot of The Lion King, all your favorites from the Pride Lands – from Nala to Simba and everyone in between – will receive the live-action treatment in what promises to be one of the most star-studded Disney movies ever created.
Indeed, one glance at the casting docket reveals that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and James Earl Jones (Star Wars) have signed on 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 headline Disney’s rebooted fairytale as Simba, the lion who would be king.
Still incubating in the bowels of development, The Lion King isn’t quite ready to show off any footage just yet, but thanks to some photos over on Twitter, we’ve now got our first look at Mufasa. They’re not pulled from the film itself, mind you, but rather these images are of the animatronic that’ll be used to bring the character to life, indicating that this won’t just be another CGI-fest. There will be a bit of that, for sure, but Disney seems to be using a blend of several different technologies here, which is great to see.
Pretty cool, eh? With pre-production now underway, it shouldn’t be too much longer before we get a proper look at the movie, but until then, what we can tell you is that 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, 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.