Barry Jenkins is heading to Pride Rock. At D23, the acclaimed “Moonlight” director appeared on stage to formally announce “Mufasa: The Lion King,” a brand new prequel to the 2019 “Lion King” movie.
Originally introduced in 2020 as a sequel to the 2019 movie, “Mufasa” tells the origin story of the enduring Disney father, exploring his childhood rising up together with his brother Scar. The movie will function the voice of Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as youthful variations of the characters, filling in for James Earl Jones as Mufasa in each the 1994 unique and the 2019 CGI remake, and Jeremy Irons and Chiwetel Ejiofor because the villainous Scar.
In addition to saying the title, unique preview footage of the movie was proven to the viewers of the D23 expo. The footage started with Rafiki (John Kani) telling the story of Mufasa to younger cubs, revealing that the lion was really an orphaned cub who needed to navigate the world alone till he rose to turn out to be the king of Pride Rock. As such, the movie goes past the enduring Pride Lands to point out him as a cub in a desert, the place he’s swept away by a flood and turns into an orphan.
“In this place a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood,” Rafiki narrates. “The lion who would change our lives forever.”
Although transient, the footage additionally included narration from Billy Eichner’s Timon, in a meta joke tag for the footage: “Wait wait wait, am I not in this story? I don’t feel seen.”
“The Lion King” is without doubt one of the most beloved Disney properties of all time, with the unique remaining a critically acclaimed basic and grossing over $960 million worldwide. The 2019 remake, which changed the 2D artstyle of the unique with real looking CGI animal renderings, obtained blended critiques from critics however was much more profitable, grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide field workplace.
“Mufasa” can be Jenkins third function movie, after directing the Oscar profitable “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.” A launch date for the movie has not but been introduced.
