The Lion King’s 2019 “live-action” version, like other recent Disney remakes, replaces the colorful hand-drawn animation with photorealistic CG animation. Mufasa: The Lion King is the prequel to The Lion King. Critics said this new Lion King lacked the charm and personality of the original film because it was an exact copy of the original. However, it still made over $1.6 billion worldwide, which is even more than its predecessor. That’s why Disney wanted to make another movie like this one. At this point, the spinoff movie is set to come out in July 2024. Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. are among the actors who will be in it.
This complete, easy-to-read guide will tell you everything you need to know about Mufasa: The Lion King, such as when it’s coming out, who’s directing it, and the full list of actors who have been cast.
Cast
- Seth Rogen as Pumbaa(voice)
- Aaron Pierre as Mufasa(voice)
- Billy Eichner as Timon(voice)
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka(voice)
- John Kani as Rafiki(voice)
What is the Release Date of Mufasa: The Lion King?
Mufasa: The Lion King was supposed to come out on July 5, 2024. The movie was supposed to come out in cinemas on December 20, 2024, but it was pushed back.
Is There a Trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King?
Disney hasn’t put out a video for Mufasa: The Lion King yet, but they did show one at the Disney and Pixar panel at the 2022 D23 Expo. This short trailer shows some well-known names and gives hints that the movie might not be like any other prequel (we’ll talk more about that later).
What Is ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Plot?
At this point, not a lot is known about how Mufasa: The Lion King will go. When the project was first mentioned in 2020, it was said to be a follow-up like The Godfather Part II that would jump back and forth between the present and the past. Some news outlets have recently called this new movie a prequel, but the D23 preview shows Rafiki telling Timon and Pumbaa about Mufasa’s past, so that could be how the movie moves between the present and the past. In the end, it’s not that different from Timon and Pumbaa telling a funny story about how they met in The Lion King 1 1/2.
Mufasa: The Lion King, on the other hand, might be based on the original Lion King tie-in novel The Lion King: A Tale of Two Brothers, which is about Mufasa and Scar when they were kids. The movie seems to be taking one thing from the book already, since Kelvin Harrison Jr. was supposed to play a character named Taka, and the book says that Mufasa’s younger brother used to be called Taka before he became Scar. We should learn more about the story of the movie in the next few months.
Who Is Directing ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’?
Jon Favreau directed the first “live-action” Lion King movie, but he won’t be directing this one. This could be because he wants to focus on his Star Wars show The Mandalorian. Instead, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk director Barry Jenkins, who won an Oscar for those movies, will direct Mufasa: The Lion King. Jenkins won an Oscar for Best Adapted script, but he is not currently credited with writing the new movie. Instead, he will direct based on a script by Jeff Nathanson, who wrote The Lion King in 2019. Even so, Jenkins is a well-known and powerful director, so people still expect him to bring his artistic views to this big-budget Disney movie.
To keep the cost down, Jenkins will probably shoot Mufasa: The Lion King in virtual reality, just like Favreau did with his remake. Jenkins has never directed a movie with a lot of special effects, but he will definitely use this gear. Jenkins has said these things about making Mufasa: The Lion King:
“I grew up with these characters, they mean so much to me. 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.”
