First Trailer for Live-Action Lion King Movie Released

On Turkey Day, Disney decided to drop a new trailer for one of their upcoming movies. While it wasn’t Avengers 4, I would say that this first trailer for The Lion King is a nice consolation prize:

As you can see, the term “Live Action” is used loosely here. The film will be entirely CGI and will feature a (mostly) new cast of voice actors with Jon Favreau directing.

Donald Glover, who is one of the hottest names in Hollywood today, will voice the adult version of Simba (JD McCrary will play the role of young Simba). Along with Glover and McCrary, The Lion King will also star Billy Eichner as Timon, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Beyoncé as Nala, Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, John Oliver as Zazu, and many more. James Earl Jones will also reprise his iconic role as Mufasa for The Lion King remake.

The trailer shows a reimagining of the memorable “Circle of Life” scene from the original 1994 version of The Lion King. While it is all very nostalgic and looks absolutely beautiful, the trailer’s most notable talking point comes at the end, where we see a brief shot of the adult version of Simba.

News first broke about Disney’s plans to recreate this beloved film back in 2016 after the immense success of The Jungle Book. A few months later, Disney announced the hirings of both Donald Glover and James Earl Jones. Hopefully, The Lion King fares just as well at the box office (if not better) as The Jungle Book.

The Lion King is set to release in theaters sometime in Summer 2019.

What did you think of the first trailer for The Lion King? Is a remake of this classic something you wanted to see? Or would you rather Disney leave these properties alone? Let us know in the comments below!

Taylor Cole

Avid gamer and placeholder of what is now the worst selfie of all time. Mostly an Xbox/PS4 player but I have been known to destroy friendships in Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.