Mufasa: The Lion King Announced as Disney's Live-Action Sequel

By Jenna Anderson

We now know the first details surrounding Disney's computer-generated "live-action" sequel to The Lion King. During Walt Disney Studios' panel at D23 Expo on Friday, director Barry Jenkins revealed that the film will be titled Mufasa: the Lion King, and is expected to debut in theaters in 2024. The film will reportedly be told in two different time frames, as Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, and tell the origin story of Mufasa to a new cub, whilst we see Mufasa rise to royalty. Those attending the panel were also treated to a brief teaser trailer of footage, and while it doesn't look like it will be released online anytime soon, ComicBook.com's Jamie Jirak provided an exclusive description of what it entails. 

"Teaser starts with cub Mufasa. 'Not a drop of royal blood." He gets swept away in some water. It ends with Timon and Pumbaa joking 'We aren't in this movie?' So.. they are."

The film will be directed by Jenkins with a script from Jeff Nathanson. Aaron Pierre will voice Mufasa in the new movie, with Kelvin Harrison Jr. voicing Scar.

"I grew up with this characters, they mean so much to me," Jenkins explained in an interview this past month. "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 told Chloe Zhao during a filmed interview in 2020. "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.'"

As mentioned above, Mufasa: the Lion King is expected to debut in theaters in 2024.

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