Can you feel the love tonight? The audience at D23 certainly could as they were greeted to the world premiere trailer of Barry Jenkins’ upcoming “Lion King” prequel, “Mufasa: The Lion King.” Production on the film has been underway for years, but the wait is finally nearing an end as it’s set to be released in theaters December 20 of this year, just in time for Christmas.
Jenkins’ “Mufasa” uses the same photorealistic imagery present in Jon Favreau’s remake of “The Lion King” from 2019 and will also feature some of the same voice cast including Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani. The narrative is said to be told from the perspective of Rafiki communicating the story of one of Pride Land’s great leaders to Simba and Nala’s child, Kiara, played by Beyoncé’s actual daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. Other new cast members include Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as his adoptive brother, Taka, who would later come to be known as Scar.
Pierre and Harrison Jr. previously collaborated together this year on “Genius: MLK/X,” in which they portrayed Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., respectively. Speaking at CinemaCon, Jenkins acknowledged how the director of “Moonlight” handling this massive IP might look odd, but that it was “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
He added later, “Audiences can expect so many things in this film: An epic story, comedy with plenty of familiar faces, some absolutely hilarious and some with extreme gravitas, new songs — all new songs — they’re handcuffing me I can’t tell you who made those songs, but I promise you, the songs are absolutely amazing. And it’s an expansive adventure that journeys them all through the continent of Africa as Mufasa and Scar and all these other characters you know and love go on this journey to really find both the circle of life and how they can become the people that they are.”
The score will be composed by frequent Jenkins collaborator Nicholas Brittell, with Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams contributing music as well and songs being written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina. South African songwriter and composer Lebo M will all provide additional vocals and performances.
Watch the trailer below.
