While all eyes are currently on
Avengers: Endgame, Disney's next big release is obviously
The Lion King. Directed by Jon Favreau, the live-action adaptation of the beloved cartoon is utilising technology which is even more advanced than what was used on The Jungle Book and you can tell by browsing through these new official images.
They've been released by
Entertainment Weekly along with a Roar-some (sorry) magazine cover putting the spotlight on Mufasa and the young Simba. The stills, meanwhile, provide new looks at everyone from Scar to Timon and Pumba and Rafiki.
While Disney's live-action adaptations have definitely been hit and miss (Dumbo was a big disappointment), the love surrounding
The Lion King pretty much guarantees that it will be a box office success and the property is definitely in safe hands with Favreau. You'll also find plenty of interesting comments from the cast and crew below.
So, to check out these images, you guys just need to click on the "View List" button!
"I think this film is a culmination of all the live-action adaptations that Disney has done of their animated classics," director Jon Favreau tells the site.
"The idea of taking these characters and this music, just as the stage play took it, sticking closely to the story but reinventing it for a different medium… I thought that this technology would be separate enough from the animated film that it felt fresh and new, yet completely related to the original."
After talking in detail about the amazing technology which has gone into bringing this world to life, Favreau adds that he ultimately hopes none of that really matters to moviegoers as he wants them to become engrossed in this adventure as if it were truly real.
"We hope it will feel like something different and something that’s as emotionally engaging as a film with real animals using real cameras. And as we introduce the material to people, they’ll begin to understand — or at least be confused in a way that’s creatively compelling."
Donald Glover voices the adult Simba in
The Lion King and is proud to be part of the impressive ensemble cast.
"[The Lion King is] a timeless story," he says,
"but I think the way Favreau has constructed it, it’s a very timely story as well. I just wanted to be a part of a global good."
"It was really amazing," Glover says of the director’s techniques.
"I’ve never seen anything like it. To be able to have that type of mobility in an actual world is the first of its kind, I think. How he melded new and old tech was really inspiring."
Seth Rogen voices Pumba in the movie and is excited to deliver a new take on the beloved character. In fact, it doesn't sound like he's feeling the pressure at all!
"As an actor, I 100 percent don’t think I’m right for every role — there are a lot of roles I don’t think I’m right for even in movies I’m making — but Pumbaa was one I knew I could do well," he explains.
"Truthfully, I probably would have been a little insulted if [Favreau] didn’t ask me to."
Jeremy Irons' performance as Scar is iconic but Chiwetel Ejiofor takes over here as the villain.
"There’s something quite interesting in knowing that you’re always holding a lethal capacity," he says, describing his Scar as
"psychologically possessed" and
"brutalized."
"Especially with Scar, whether it’s a vocal quality that allows for a certain confidence or a certain aggression, to always know that at the end of it you’re playing somebody who has the capacity to turn everything on its head in a split second with outrageous acts of violence… that can completely change the temperature of a scene."
"People way more famous and successful than me would have killed for this part," Billy Eichner says when asked about being cast as Timon.
"It’s such a great role that allows you to do so much. But I’ve learned that the bigger the project and the bigger the names that you’re working with, the more you have to ignore it."
"If you get to the soundstage and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, what a full-circle moment! Nathan Lane did it originally! Beyoncé’s in this!’ then you’re paralyzed creatively. You just have to put that out of your head in order to get the job done."