The Lion King (2019 film)

The Lion King is an upcoming American fantasy drama film directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a photorealistic computer animated remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film of the same name. The film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones.

Plans for a remake of The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 following the success of Favreau's The Jungle Book. Much of the main cast signed in early 2017 and principal photography began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles. The film is scheduled to be released on July 19, 2019.

Voice cast

 * Donald Glover as Simba, a lion who is the crown prince of the Pride Lands.
 * JD McCrary as young Simba
 * Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, Simba's childhood best friend and future love-interest.
 * Shahadi Wright-Joseph as young Nala
 * James Earl Jones as Mufasa, the King of the Pride Lands and the father of Simba. Jones reprises his role from the original 1994 animated film.
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, the treacherous brother of Mufasa and the uncle of Simba who seeks to take the mantle of king.
 * Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa, a wise-cracking meerkat and a naive common warthog, who befriend and adopt a young Simba after he runs away from home.
 * Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, queen of the Pride Lands, Mufasa's mate, and Simba's mother.
 * John Kani as Rafiki, a wise mandrill who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands and a close friend of Mufasa's.
 * John Oliver as Zazu, a red-billed hornbill who is the advisor to the King of the Pride Lands.
 * Florence Kasumba, Eric Andre, and Keegan-Michael Key as Shenzi, Azizi and Kamari, three spotted hyenas and Scar's henchmen. While Shenzi is a character that featured in the original 1994 animated film, Kamari and Azizi are the respective renames of Banzai and Ed from the original film.
 * Amy Sedaris as an unspecified elephant shrew, a character not featured in the original film.

Development
On September 28, 2016, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed that Jon Favreau would be directing a remake of the 1994 animated film The Lion King, which would feature the songs from the 1994 film, following a string of recent box office successes on the other Disney remake films such as Maleficent, Cinderella, Favreau's The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast with the latter three also earning critical praise. In November, talking with ComingSoon.net, Favreau said the virtual cinematography technology he used in The Jungle Book would be used to a greater degree in The Lion King. Although the media reported The Lion King to be a live-action film, it actually utilizes photorealistic computer-generated animation. Disney also did not describe it as live-action, only stating it would follow the "technologically groundbreaking" approach of The Jungle Book.

Writing
On October 13, 2016, it was reported that Disney had hired Jeff Nathanson to write the screenplay for the remake, with the story written by Brenda Chapman, who was the original film's head of story. On how much of the original film will be adapted in the remake, Sean Bailey, The Walt Disney Company's President of Production, said that "The Lion King is a revered and beloved movie, so you'd better revere and love those parts that the audience wants. But there are things in the movie that are going to be new. [And] it is a new form of filmmaking. Historical definitions don't work. It uses some techniques that would traditionally be called animation, and other techniques that would traditionally be called live-action. It is an evolution of the technology Jon [Favreau] used in Jungle Book."

Casting
In mid-February 2017, Donald Glover was cast as Simba, with James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa from the 1994 film.

In April 2017, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen were cast to play Timon and Pumbaa respectively. In July 2017, John Oliver was cast as Zazu. In August 2017, Alfre Woodard and John Kani were announced to play Sarabi and Rafiki, respectively.

Earlier in March 2017, it was announced that Beyoncé was Favreau's top choice for the role of Nala and that the director and studio would be willing to do whatever it took to accommodate her busy schedule. Later on November 1, 2017, her role was confirmed in an official announcement, which also confirmed that Chiwetel Ejiofor would play the role of Scar, and announced that Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, and Keegan-Michael Key will be the voices of Azizi, Shenzi and Kamari while JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph will be the voices of young Simba and young Nala, respectively. In November 2018, Amy Sedaris was announced as having been cast in a role created for the film.

Production
Production on the film commenced in mid-2017 in Los Angeles, California, utilizing "virtual-reality tools", per Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato. Virtual Production Supervisor Girish Balakrishnan said on his professional website that the filmmakers used motion capture and VR/AR technologies.

Post-production
This will serve as the final credit for film editor Mark Livolsi, who died in September 2018.

Music
On November 1, 2017, it was announced that Hans Zimmer would return to score the film, having previously scored the 1994 animated version. On November 28, 2017, it was reported that Elton John had signed onto the project to rework his musical compositions from the original film before his retirement. The following day it was reported that Beyoncé would be assisting John in the reworking of the soundtrack. On February 9, 2018, John reported that he, Tim Rice and Beyoncé would create a new song for the end credits of the film. Later that month, it was announced that four songs from the original film would be included: "Circle of Life", "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", "Hakuna Matata", and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", the latter being performed by Beyoncé, Glover, Rogen, and Eichner. On February 3, 2019, Skyler Shuler of The DisInsider reported that "Be Prepared" will be in the film as well.

Visual effects
The Moving Picture Company, the lead vendor on The Jungle Book, will provide the visual effects and they'll be supervised by Robert Legato, Elliot Newman and Adam Valdez.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer for The Lion King debuted during the annual Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving day game on November 22, 2018. The trailer was viewed 224.6 million times in its first 24 hours, becoming the then 2nd most viewed trailer in that time period. A special sneak peek and a new poster were released during the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019.

Release
The Lion King is scheduled to be released on July 19, 2019, which marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the original film. It will be one of the first theatrical films to be released on Disney+ alongside Toy Story 4, Frozen 2 and Captain Marvel.