Disney Film Chief Alan Horn Says ‘The Lion King’ Will Make You Cry

2019 will forever be known as the year of the live-action Disney reboot, with new versions of Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King all set to hit theaters. While audiences are certainly excited to see all of them, one of the three is coming with a promise that you’ll be crying before it’s over.

Alan Horn, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about everything the House of Mouse has on the way, from its 2019 movie slate to the pending purchase of 21st Century Fox. At one point in the interview, he was asked how many different cuts of Jon Favreau’s new Lion King movie he’d seen so far, and the executive made it clear that it was going to be a tear-jerker.

“Four,” Horn replied. “Bring a handkerchief. It’s so emotional. But it’s a remake of an animated film, so there must be some percentage of the audience who will say, ‘Well, I saw the first picture.’ All I can say for sure is you cannot tell these animals aren’t real.”

In that same interview, the topic of the expectations surrounding this year’s enormous slate was brought up. With movies like Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Frozen 2, and several others on the way, how would the studio manage its expectations?

“It’s always a challenge because — and I say this with love and respect for media — the thing about these big movies is they get a lot of attention, whether positive or negative,” he said. “So when they don’t work, like Solo, the media says it’s a failure. I think it was a pretty good movie. It didn’t resonate as much as we’d hoped it would, but the press writes it up in a more negative way than I would. These are very high-profile movies. If Aladdin, which I happen to think is a terrific film, doesn’t work somehow, that’s big news and much bigger news than if a movie somewhere else, like The Kid Who Would Be King [at Fox,] doesn’t work.”

Which of Disney’s movies are you most looking forward to in 2019? Let us know in the comments below!

The Lion King is set to hit theaters on July 19th.