Disney gave Paramount a run for its money at CinemaCon earlier this week and among the House of Mouse's highlighted projects was the long-awaited prequel to The Lion King, Mufasa.
We've known for a while that it will delve into Mufasa and Scar's childhoods, but as director Barry Jenkins put it to those in attendance, "What [is] the director of 'Moonlight' is doing here to tell me about an 8-quadrant legacy film?"
Well, the filmmaker says it was "one of the best decisions I ever made in my life" and called this a "very personal film," having watched The Lion King over 200 times while babysitting his young nephews. Reading the script, he said it reminded him of what young people do with their emotions and "how they can become great the way they are."
He also called Mufasa, "a massive f*cking film, and it was my job to fill it with massive heart."
The teaser largely just showed off the CGI animals and environments but is said to be a marked improvement over the already photorealistic version of The Lion King we saw in theaters back in 2019. Interestingly, a piece of narration seems to turn what we thought we knew about Mufasa on its head...
"This story begins far beyond the mountain and the shadows on the other side of the light. A lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood, a lion who would change our lives forever."
So, it appears Mufasa wasn't born into royalty and destined to be King, a far cry from how Simba's story played out. Of course, Jenkins first suggested this might be the case when the movie was first unveiled.
"It’s a story about how Mufasa rose to royalty," he said. "We assume he was just born into his lineage, but Mufasa was actually an orphaned cub who had to navigate the world alone. In telling this story, we get to experience the real journey of how Mufasa found his place in the circle of life."
Starring Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani, Mufasa: The Lion King arrives in theaters on December 20, later this year. A new look at Mufasa can be seen in the X post below (via Toonado.com).