Jon Favreau to Direct a Feature Film Reimagining of Disney's THE LION KING
Disney has officially announced that Iron Man and The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau is set to direct a new adaptation of their classic animated film The Lion King. I can't really say this is going to be a live-action adaptation because it's going to be a life-like CG animated film. The director did incredible things with The Jungle book in bringing those characters to life, and now he is being tasked with doing the same thing for The Lion King.
I absolutely loved The Jungle Book, and there's no doubt in my mind that Favreau is going to bring fans another incredible Disney film. I'm actually really pumped up about this because I know we're going to see some incredible things come from it.
The film will basically tell the same story from the original movie, and it will also include the original music and songs. Disney had this to say in their press announcement:
The Lion King builds on Disney’s success of reimagining its classics for a contemporary audience with films like Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. The upcoming Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle, is already one of the most anticipated movies of 2017. Like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King will include songs from the animated film. Disney and Favreau are also in development on a sequel to The Jungle Book. No release date has been announced for either film.
The Lion King (1994) is one of the biggest animated films of all time with a lifetime global box office gross of $968.8 million, including $422.8 million domestically. It won Academy Awards for the original song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (Elton John, Tim Rice) and original score (Hans Zimmer), plus two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14 million copies. In 1997, the stage production The Lion King made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards; 19 years later, it remains one of Broadway’s biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world, including London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Mexico City, Shanghai, and North America. Translated into eight different languages, its 23 global productions have been seen by more than 85 million people across every continent except Antarctica. The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
Are you excited about Jon Favreau taking on The Lion King? The filmmaker is also attached to direct The Jungle Book 2.