For those of you into the house of Mouse, Disney dropped the first teaser for Mufasa: The Lion King yesterday (April 29, 2024).
Mufasa: The Lion King is supposedly a flashbackesque retelling of how Mufasa became the King of the Pride. We get to meet Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, prince and heir to a royal bloodline.
Similar to the live-action Lion King (2019), this film will blend live-action filmmaking with photoreal CGI and is directed by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, Dear White People, The Underground Railroad). The cast includes Aaron Pierre, Kevlin Harrison, Jr., Tiffany Boone, Preston Nyman, Mads Mikkelsen and Thandiwe Newton. Returning in their slapstick roles of Timon and Pumba are Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner.
Are you interested in seeing this? 2019’s Lion King achieved a 52% critics score and an 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, although it did end up grossing about $1.6B worldwide during its theatrical run. 2023’s The Little Mermaid however only grossed about $560M during it’s run, BUT, got a 67% critics score and a 94% audience score.
It’ll be very interesting to see how the box office and critics consensus pans out for this Lion King prequel. Will I see it? Well… in all honesty, I didn’t see the 2019 version so I don’t really have an interest to see this one. That being said, I’m sure we’ll cover it in a December 2024 Whatcha’ Watchin’!
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
