(UTV | COLOMBO) – One of the most unexpected pairings announced in recent times is that of “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” director Barry Jenkins signing on to direct a prequel to Disney’s live-action adaptation of “The Lion King”.
Titled “Mufasa,” the new film centers around Simba’s father and the king of Pride Rock. Aaron Pierre will play the younger iteration of Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. takes on his brother Taka (before he became known as Scar).
In addition, John Kani, Billy Eichner, and Seth Rogen will reprise their respective roles of Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa for the framing scenes, which are set in the present (after the events of “The Lion King”)
Speaking with EW at the D23 Expo earlier this month, Jenkins briefly talked about tackling the property and how he can offer a new perspective on characters that audiences already know:
“I think you’ll see a ton of familiar faces. It is a prequel, but again, it’s a prequel in the sense that these are all the same characters, but we’re telling you how they came to be who they are. So we’re literally going backward. We’re going back in time with many of these characters. We’re in the present, as well, but we’re also going back to tell who these characters were.”
Jenkins hopped onboard the project after Jeff Nathanson sent him the script, which he very quickly warmed to and how it explored the concept of myth-making:
“Mufasa is the king, the greatest king of the Pride Lands, and you assume he got that way just because he is, and I thought the studio and Jeff Nathanson, who wrote the script, did a great job of really exploring how people become great, how people come to be these mythic figures we look up to.”
Jenkins also confirms some “really wonderful musical numbers” are also included in the film, which is set for a 2024 release.