Walt Disney Studios is getting ready to make a live-action sequel of the Lion King.
Disney is now working with Oscar-winning Moonlight director Barry Jenkins for the upcoming sequel. Barry Jenkins is now taking over for director Jon Favreau for the next live-action Lion King movie.
The story will further explore the mythology of the character from the 1994 animation and 2019 live-action remake film, but it will particularly explore the life of Musafa. It has been reported that it will be a continuation of the 2019 film, and it will go backward and forward in time to reveal more of Mufasa’s life.
However, Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, and no release date has been given yet, nor any information about when the production will start..
Director Barry Jenkins will continue the same cutting edge photo-realistic technology that was used in the 2019 film to make the animals look like their real-life counterparts.
In a statement, he said that ‘Having the opportunity to work with Disney on expanding this magnificent tale of friendship, love, and legacy while furthering my work chronicling the lives and souls of folk within the African diaspora is a dream come true.’
The 2019 adaptation of Disney classic movie Lion King starred Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Billy Eichner, and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. It is unknown whether this star-studded cast of actors will lend their voices again for the sequel.
Director Barry Jenkins took home two Academy Awards for 2016’s Moonlight for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay; in 2018, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for If Beale Street Could Talk.
Other than Lion King, he is working on another project with Disney; he is to direct a biopic about legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey.