After the blockbuster success of the live action adaptation of the hit 1994 animated film The Lion King, Disney is coming back with a sequel of the film. The 2019 CG movie generated $1.6 billion worldwide. Reportedly, Disney has rolled in the Oscar winner Barry Jenkins who directed the award winning film Moonlight.
Jenkins took his time and came onto Twitter to confirm the news for the fans. He shared his thoughts as well
“Helping my sister raise two young boys during the 90s, I grew up with these characters,” Jenkins said in a later statement. “Having the opportunity to work with Disney on expanding this magnificent tale of friendship, love and legacy while furthering my work chronicling the lives and souls of folk within the African diaspora is a dream come true.”
Fans were wondering that what is the point of making a sequel and what will be the storyline for the film. It is being said that the movie is actually going to be a prequel of The Lion King and will delve deeper into the mythology of the characters. The film might also serve as the origin story for Mufasa.
Jenkins while sharing a fan made video on Twitter cleared the doubts by saying that the movie is not going to be a remake and neither a sequel. This surely has got the fans excited! Still, not much about the project is known but the possibility of being an original storyline surely has made people excited.
Jenkins will be overtaking the helm from Jon Favreau who served as the director for hits like The Jungle Book and The Lion King itself. This will be Jenkins’ second project with Disney as he is already in works with Searchlight for the biopic of the popular choreographer Alvin Ailey.
Jenkins already has had a busy year as he completed for Amazon, a limited series adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s National Book Award- and Pulitzer-winning The Underground Railroad, serving as the director as well as the writer for few episodes.
The Lion King 2 will join the list of ever increasing live action adaptations of Disney with Little Mermaid, Cruella, and Peter Pan.
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