Simba actor from the Lion King earned millions from film after his mum turned down $2 million up front fee

Over the years there have been a number of canny actors who have managed to convinced studios to give them unique contract deals and earned millions from it.

Home Alone star Daniel Stern managed to do this in negotiating his return for the sequel film, convincing the studio to give him one percent of the box office and earning $3.59 million from this alone.

Add to that a name currently in the headlines worldwide, Jim Carrey, who made Yes Man for no up-front fee and earned almost 40% of the film’s profits in the process, earning him more than $35,000,000.

One of the most successful to do this however was Jason Weaver, the actor who voice Simba’s two songs as a kid in The Lion King.

Jason Weaver ended up playing Simba because of a visit from Elton John

Weaver made his name as an actor early on by appearing on The Jacksons: An American Dream, a mini-series about the Jackson Five and their family, with him playing Michael Jackson.

The actor said that multiple celebrities visited the set, however the one that ended up changing his life was Elton John.

John was working on music for the new film and managed to arrange for Weaver to audition for the next big Disney film, The Lion King.

The Lion King came amidst a generational run of releases from Disney, following Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid.

Weaver’s mum turned down $2,000,000 and arranged a royalties deal instead

Over the weekend The Lion King celebrated its 30^th anniversary, with Weaver coming out to perform Hakuna Matata with Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane.

One fan quoted this performance, saying in a tweet: “I always love seeing Jason Weaver cause every time I do I remember that his mama (who was his manager) turned down Disney’s $2M upfront offer for him to be Simba and instead negotiated $100,000 upfront and a percentage of ALL ROYALTIES.

Jason Weaver Performing “Hakuna Matata” At The Lion King 30th Anniversary pic.twitter.com/Vp7tDV8sU3

— Shawn K The King  (@SKTheKingYT) February 28, 2026

“Meaning ANY TIME the soundtrack is streamed or sold, DVD rights, Blu-Ray or stream happens, he is paid.”

Whilst the specifics of his royalty deal haven’t been elaborated on by Weaver this is mostly accurate. Weaver revealed that they were offered $2,000,000 up front and, whilst he wanted to accept, his mother encouraged him to turn it down as his manager.

What do we know about the deal Weaver struck for the film?

Weaver’s mum turned down this $2,000,000 up front offer, a huge deal considering he was the singing voice for two songs but was not the speaking voice of Simba.

Instead she arranged a percentage of the royalties linked to the songs Weaver sang as well as $100,000 up front.

This would mean a percentage of the film’s box office and DVD revenue, which was absolutely massive.

The Lion King earned nearly $1,000,000,000 at the box office and is widely considered to be the most successful DVD release ever – earning over $1,500,000.

If he earned just 1% from this Weaver would have walked home with $25,000,000, which doesn’t account for any other miscellaneous royalties such as merch linked to the younger Simba and anytime the soundtrack is licensed.

All in all, it’s fair to say that his mum absolutely made the right decision.

Speaking about it in an interview with Comedy Hype in 2019 he called it ‘the gift that keeps on giving’, adding: “They compensated me well, the deal that I worked out with Disney is f**king awesome.”