Originally slated for July 5th, Disney has pushed back the release of “Mufasa: The Lion King” until Christmas 2024. This upcoming live-action prequel to “The Lion King” is just the latest in a long string of release date moves. With both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes at an end, Hollywood can start production on several projects again.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” is directed by Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), from a script from Jeff Nathanson. Aaron Pierre (“Krypton”) will voice Mufasa, with Kelvin Harrison Jr. (“Elvis”) voicing Scar. Pierre is taking over for James Earl Jones who voiced Mufasa in the 1994 animated film, and the 2019 live-action remake.
This film is also a rare follow-up to one of Disney’s live-action remakes of one of its animated classics. A current initiative that has had very mixed reactions from fans. Plot-wise not much is currently known about “Mufasa: The Lion King,” aside from being an origin story about Simba’s father.
“I grew up with this characters, they mean so much to me,” Jenkins explained. “I think the work that Jeff Nathanson, the writer, did and going back into really helping children and anyone who ever loved this property understand what it takes. Kings aren’t just born, they aren’t just made. They have to become who they are through a series of events that a lot of people can relate to. So, in that standpoint, it fits very well with everything else I’ve done. So I feel no pressure, I just want to do a good job.”
“My agents send me a lot of scripts. When this one came, super top secret, I was very skeptical,” Jenkins continued. “I read the script and about 40 pages in I turned to Lulu [Wang] and I said, ‘Holy s**t, this is good.’ And as I kept reading, I got further away from the side of my brain that said, ‘Oh, a filmmaker like you doesn’t make a film like this,’ and allowed myself to get to the place where these characters, this story, is amazing. What really pushed me across the line was James, my DP, said, ‘You know what? There’s something really interesting in this mode of filmmaking that we haven’t done and that not many people have done.’ That was when I went back to the powers that be and said, ‘I would love to do this, but I’ve got to be able to do what I do.'”
We’ll keep you posted on updates about “Mufasa: The Lion King” as they become available. You can stream the original animated film, it’s sequels and animated series, as well as the live-action film, on Disney+ now.
