The Lion King remake is coming to theatres soon, arriving on July 19th, and ahead of its arrival director Jon Favreau and Childish Gambino chat with Entertainment Weekly about the what the new film will show and the fascinating technology used to bring it to life. “It’s almost like we’re relaunching a classic stage piece, casting it in a way that brings a new spin to it and makes it exciting and interesting,” Jon explained.
Childish added, "[The Lion King is] a timeless story, but I think the way Favreau has constructed it, it’s a very timely story as well. I just wanted to be a part of a global good."
Jon further explained how Childish and Beyonce's role in the film is more than just flexing their musical aspects, but highlighting their performance skill as well. "[One thing] I didn’t do for Jungle Book is double-down on the music and find people who were going to reinterpret this and bring something new and fresh to it," Jon continued.
"Each iteration of The Lion King seems to bring its own spin to the music while still feeling related to what we all connect to as The Lion King. And so having Donald Glover and Beyoncé involved, not trying to create new songs but trying to build on what people remember and love about the old ones, has been really fun and formative."