Featured Image Credit: Disney
Topics: Disney, Beyonce, Donald Glover, TV and Film
Michael Slavin
A new trailer has dropped for a Lion King live action sequel.
Mufasa: The Lion King is the newest Disney live action film, and the first to not be based on an existing animated film.
The story will be a prequel, focusing on Simba and Nala’s daughter, Kiara, being told the story of how her grandfather became king.
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Check out the trailer below:
Whilst the concept may sound a bit on the dull side, Disney were able to bring in one of the hottest directors around to helm the film.
Barry Jenkins, the director of Moonlight, will head up the film – his first big studio film.
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The trailer has confirmed a host of returning stars, with Beyoncé and Donald Glover returning as Simba and Nala.
Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner are back as Timon and Pumba, alongside John Kani as Rafiki.
The movie is also set to feature Kelvin Harrison Jr and Aaron Pierre as young Scar and Mufasa respectively.
The biggest shock of the trailer, however, was the news that Beyonce's daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, will be voicing Kiara - who was introduced in the animated film's sequel, Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
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Whilst most of the early announcements around the film were met with uncertain reactions, the trailer has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from people online.
One fan posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) to say: "I can not wait, this looks stunning! Seems like the story has a lot to offer too, can’t wait to see how they play young Mufasa and Scar off one another!!"
While another said: "This one actually seems… kinda decent??? Maybe they learned from last time."
And the addition of Blue Ivy Carter specifically has had a lot of fans excited to see her carry on from where Beyoncé left off.
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One fan said they were 'trying not to cry' with a gif of an emotional Beyoncé - and we're all there with her.
The 2019 Lion King, meanwhile, was released to mixed reactions.
Receiving just a 52 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the remake was widely considered to be simply a duller version or 'retelling that lacks the energy and heart' of the classic animated original.
Fans, however, looked on the film more kindly as the 2019 movie has an 88 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and also made over $1.6 billion at the box office.
With this being the case, a sequel or prequel of some kind was always going to be on the horizon.