Disney has announced that the first trailer for its upcoming prequel to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King will be released online at some point tomorrow (via GMA), and we have a new image giving us another look at Simba's beloved father, Mufasa, as a cub.
The movie is directed by Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and features Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as younger versions of Mufasa and his nefarious brother Scar, taking over from James Earl Jones as Mufasa in both the 1994 animated original and the remake, and Jeremy Irons and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar.
Some footage from the movie screened during the D23 Expo back in 2022, featuring Rafiki (John Kani) telling the story of Mufasa to a group of young cubs. As it turns out, the lion who would be king was actually an orphaned cub who had to navigate the world alone until he found his way to becoming the monarch of Pride Rock.
“In this place a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood,” Rafiki narrates. “The lion who would change our lives forever.”
The teaser also included some dialogue from Billy Eichner’s Timon: “Wait wait wait, am I not in this story? I don’t feel seen.”
"I had to make this movie," said Jenkins back when the project was first announced. "Because when I was 14 I was raising two nephews and there was a VHS tape that we watched about 95 times in the span of two days. I was thinking about Mufasa and how he becomes great… I am not a king, I am not a king… Mufasa is great because of the family and friends he has with him."
Although the 2019 remake was a hit at the box office, it wasn't particularly well-received by critics, and sits at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Check out the image below, and let us know what you think.
"Mufasa: The Lion King is an upcoming American musical drama film directed by Barry Jenkins, written by Jeff Nathanson, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pastel Productions. It is intended to be the live-action styled photorealistic computer-generated imagery prequel to the similarly created 2019 remake of the original film The Lion King.
The prequel is about the rise of one of the greatest kings of the Pride Lands, goes back to the African savanna where Rafiki tells Kiara—daughter of Simba and Nala—the story of her grandfather while Timon and Pumbaa add color commentary."