Jon Favreau was the natural choice to helm 2019's The Lion King. After all, he'd already perfected the complex technology used to create photorealistic animated animals in The Jungle Book. However, the filmmaker faced criticism for delivering what boiled down to a shot-for-shot remake of 1994's The Lion King.
The movie was still a huge financial success, grossing over $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office. No one was surprised when a follow-up was announced, but the fact Moonlight helmer Barry Jenkins would be at the helm did come as a shock.
Talking to Vulture, he acknowledged, "On what planet do I, Mr. Moonlight, make a prequel to The Lion King? I can’t tweet about the Super Bowl without somebody reminding me that I’m making this f***ing film. I can’t!"
According to the piece, Jenkins initially had some reservations upon learning that he'd have to commit three years to a movie we now know is a prequel titled Mufasa: The Lion King.
"When I took this job, the idea was ‘What does Barry Jenkins know about visual effects? Why the hell would he do this movie?’ In addition to ‘Why would he be making The Lion King?'" he recalled. "I think part of that I found very invigorating. People make these things, you know, with computers. So anybody should be able to do this. Anybody, right? There’s nothing physically that says I am incapable of doing this."
However, with just two weeks to go before the movie arrives in theaters, Jenkins has closed the door on helming another feature in the same vein as Mufasa: The Lion King.
"It is not my thing," he candidly admitted. "It is not my thing. I want to work the other way again, where I want to physically get everything there. I always believe that what is here is enough, and let me just figure out what is the chemistry to make alchemy?"
"How can these people, this light, this environment, come together to create an image that is moving, that is beautiful, that creates a text that is deep enough, dense enough, rich enough to speak to someone?"
Despite that, Jenkins has one idea he's mulled over. "You know, a Muppet movie done in this style would be awesome. Awesome. In the same way we generate our PlayStation version of a scene, you could have a set that’s just the actual physical puppeteers, and Muppets are blocking the scene but just in a black box, you know?"
"Or, let’s say, a green box," he added. "You’re capturing their performances and then you’re putting them all into virtual sets. I can see how that could work."
Exploring the unlikely rise of the beloved king of the Pride Lands, Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick.
Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka - the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny - their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters worldwide on December 20.