The Lion King remake has stirred up a lot of buzz. For one, it's the Lion King, a classic movie in Disney's collection. For two, the rumors surrounding the cast members were filled with some of our favorite actors and musicians. Back in March, reports said Beyonce would play Nala. Director Jon Favreau expressed interest in Beyonce and believed she'd be an ideal candidate for the role. Today, Disney unveiled the official cast and Favreau's wishes came to fruition.
Disney tweeted a poster of the cast of the upcoming Lion King remake, which is set to drop in 2019. The cast includes Beyonce as the role of Nala and Donald Glover playing Simba. A young Simba will be played by JD McCrary, who sung on Childish Gambino's "Terrified" off of Awaken, My Love. The young version of Nala will be played by Shahadi Wright Joseph. Favreau was very favorable towards Beyonce voicing Nala. Despite her busy schedule, Favreau was willing to do whatever he could to make it happen.
Along with them, James Earl Jones will return as the voice of Mufasa. They also cast Eric Andre as the role of Azizi, Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari, John Oliver as Zazu, John Kani as Rafiki, Seth Rogan as Pumba and Billy Eichner as Timon. They also cast Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar and Alfre Woodard as Sarabi. It's looking like a promising remake with such a star-studded cast. We've seen a lot of remakes mess up the originals but there's definitely hope for this one.
The movie's been in the talks for a few years now. Last year, Walt Disney finally confirmed Jon Favreau as the director. The choice to remake such a classic film was inspired the success of other live action movies of Disney Classics. Favreau previously directed the 2016 adaptation of The Jungle Book, as well. That was well received both commercially and critically. With Lion King being remade into the live action version, it'll be interesting to see how Favreau decides to approach the film.
Lion King is slated to be released on July 19, 2019.