Guess we will be crying again
The Lion King is getting a prequel. At D23 on Friday, Moonlight director Barry Jenkins announced that he is headed to Pride Rock to direct Mufasa: The Lion King, a new prequel to the 2019 live-action film. Let’s read in detail below.
Mufasa: The Lion King Details
Mufasa: The Lion King will tell the story of Simba’s father and his childhood with his brother Scar. Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. will play the younger versions of the characters. James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa in the 1994 original as well as the 2019 CGI remake, while Jeremy Irons and Chiwetel Ejiofor voiced Scar in the original and remake respectively.
While we did not receive a teaser, the D23 attendees got to see it. It begins with Rafiki (John Kani) narrating the story of Mufasa to the young cubs of the pride, saying that the previous king was an orphaned cub who had to explore the world alone until he became the king of Pride Rock. The journey goes beyond the Pride Rock and there is a scene of Mufasa as a cub getting swept away by a flood and becoming an orphan. Rafiki says how a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood, but that lion managed to change everyone’s lives forever. A humorous line from Billy Eichner’s Timon, saying, “Wait wait wait, am I not in this story? I don’t feel seen” is also present.
The Lion King’s Popularity
Mufasa: The Lion King would make a fine addition, seeing how popular the classic story is. The original grossed over $960 million worldwide, while the CGI remake collected over$1 billion.
A release date for Mufasa: The Lion King is yet to be announced, but we can expect it to arrive in mid to late 2023.
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