Disney's Live-Action Adaptation Of THE LION KING Casts Donald Glover As Simba & James Earl Jones As Mufasa
It's been a very busy Friday night, and it's about to get a lot busier as we've just received our first bits of casting news for Jon Favreau's live-action adaptation of The Lion King!
"I just can't wait to be King."
Director Jon Favreau has just announced, via Twitter, that James Earl Jones and Donald Glover have both joined the cast of his upcoming live-action adaptation of The Lion King as the father-and-son duo of Mufasa and Simba, respectively.
It's unknown whether Glover will voice both adult lion Simba and young cub Simba, but considering he has previously voiced 14-year-old Miles Morales on Disney XD's Ultimate Spider-Man, it's probably not a stretch to assume he'll be pulling double duty when he steps into the role of one of Disney's greatest protagonists.
Jones will return to one of his most iconic roles, having previously voiced Mufasa in the original 1994 Disney animated classic of the same name.
Check out the announcement tweets below:
The film was first announced last September, following the blockbuster success of Favreau's The Jungle Book, which managed to earn over $966.5 million at the worldwide box office. A production start date hasn't been given just yet, but with casting underway, we should start to hear more relatively soon.
Glover recently won a Golden Globe for his critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta. His past work includes well-received performances in Community, 30 Rock, The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike XXL, & The Martian, and he can be seen next in Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming and the untitled Han Solo prequel film.
So, what do you guys think of the casting? Sound off with your thoughts below!