Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: barry jenkins, disney, the lion king, The Lion King prequel

The Lion King Prequel: Disney Reveals Leads, Barry Jenkins Directing

The Lion King prequel is moving full-steam ahead with The Trial Of The Chicago 7 star Kelvin Harrison Jr. and The Underground Railroad star Aaron Pierre signed to be the leads in the voice cast. Oscar-winning director of Moonlight Barry Jenkins will be the director. The movie will further explore the mythology of the iconic characters, including Mufasa's origin story. Pierre previously worked with Jenkins on the acclaimed Amazon series The Underground Railroad and will play Mufasa while Harrison Jr. will play Taka. Additional casting is in process with more big names being approached.

According to Deadline, the untitled prequel will be live-action and once again use the photorealistic animation technology that director Jon Favreau used in the blockbuster 2019 update of the beloved franchise. Jeff Nathanson, who scripted the last installment, is writing the screenplay.

At its investor day late last year, Disney announced that prolific composer Hans Zimmer, who scored the original and 2019 version, will return to compose the music in collaboration with, Pharrell, and Succession's Nicholas Britell.

Jenkins' partners from his production company PASTEL Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak are producing with Disney. BAFTA-nominated actor Harrison Jr. is best known for movies Waves, Luce, It Comes At Night and Monsters And Men. The rising star will next be seen starring in Joe Wright's Cyrano and as B.B.King in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic.

Pierre was recently seen in M. Night Shyamalan's Old and as Caesar in all 10 episodes of The Underground Railroad. He also previously appeared in Syfy's Krypton and the Sky and Amazon series Britannia, a trippy, cult series about the Roman invasion of Briton that's far weirder and trippier than Game of Thrones ever was. Jenkins won the Oscar for scripting the Best Picture winner Moonlight and may or may not end up with a co-writer credit on the Lion King prequel.

Disney's CGI-oriented 2019 update of The Lion King grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide in its theatrical run, overtaking Frozen to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It's a no-brainer that Disney would go back to drink at the lion's trough.

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