Hollywood
Fans of Beyonce and Childish Gambino cannot wait for the soundtrack of the movie that is set to release in summer of 2019.
Updated : Nov 02, 2017, 12:37 PM IST
Beyonce, actor James Earl Jones and comedian John Oliver are joining the cast of Walt Disney's new live-action film version of the The Lion King", the studio said.
Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie follows the storyline of the 1994 animated film, in which a young lion named Simba grows up on the African savanna after his uncle Scar conspires to usurp his father Mufasa's place as king.
Jones reprises his role as Mufasa, while the young Simba is voiced by Donald Glover, who recently starred in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Chiwetel Ejiofor, lead actor in Twelve Years A Slave, takes the role of the villainous Scar.
Beyonce plays Simba's childhood friend and love interest Nala, while Golden Globe-winning actress Alfre Woodard voices the character of Simba's mother Sarabi.
Comedian Seth Rogen takes on the character of Simba's warthog friend Pumbaa, while Oliver plays Zazu, the hornbill adviser to Mufasa.
"It is a director's dream to assemble a talented team like this to bring this classic story to life," said Favreau, who has also directed Disney's The Jungle Book live-action remake, which saw actors interacting with characters enhanced by computer-generated imagery.
The film is expected to hit US theatres on July 19, 2019.
The announcement shook the Twitterverse. Speculations about Beyonce finally winning an Oscar and reaching halfway through EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) collection resurfaced after her visual album Lemonade didn't win at the Emmys 2016. Fans also tweeted about looking forward to the soundtrack since it involves Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino who might collaborate with Beyonce on an OST composed by none other than Hans Zimmer. Check out the reactions below -
Beyoncé is gonna be Nala and Childish Gambino and playing Simba man the Lion King is gonna be lit pic.twitter.com/s8EfgXs8Dd
— Trap Witch (@ThisisnotDwayne) November 2, 2017
BEYONCÉ IS NALA. DONALD GLOVER IS SIMBA. JAMES EARL JONES IS COMING BACK AS MUFASA. ALREADY, THE 1ST THREE NAMES KILLED ME & THEN IT GOES ON https://t.co/Qfi9xfdKJb
— Thomas Sanders (@ThomasSanders) November 1, 2017
hans zimmer is scoring the live action remake of the lion king. hans zimmer with donald glover and beyoncé.......hold on to your wigs girls
— (@bleuvaIentine) November 1, 2017
How the Disney exec that closed Beyonce's Lion King deal was greeted when they came into work today pic.twitter.com/227IcvnQaE
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) November 2, 2017
nala: im here to bring you back home
— aristotle (@butchdeIoria) November 1, 2017
simba: pic.twitter.com/yEoqBvl4BV
Blue Ivy, Sir Carter and Rumi are going to listen to their momma‘s voice while watching #TheLionKing pic.twitter.com/8hLSq4CjMA
— MI EDGES (@supersaiyanbey) November 1, 2017
BEYONCÉ IS OFFICIALLY NALA IN THE LION KING AND I CAN ALREADY TELL THE SOUNDTRACK WILL SAVE MY LIFE pic.twitter.com/FEJQiQsKOP
— Beyoncé Facts (@beyceipts) November 1, 2017
BEYONCÉ IS OFFICIALLY IN THE LION KING. BEYONCÉ WILL GET AN OSCAR. LADIES, THIS IS NOT A DRILL! pic.twitter.com/PJ6OD2PR6Z
— shook. (@chrstvphr) November 1, 2017
Promo, interviews, appearances, red carpet premieres, Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys... #TheLionKing pic.twitter.com/FMraIcxqCe
— maisy (@giselleknowIes) November 1, 2017
Donald Glover, Beyonce, James Earl Jones, Chiwetel, Alfre... pic.twitter.com/nJWBZJ7gJG
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) November 1, 2017
Disney really about to bless us with a Beyonce/Gambino collab song https://t.co/KDrEEg9E0w
— nathan zed (@NathanZed) November 1, 2017