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Disney has officially announced the cast members of the live-action adaptation of The Lion King set to release in Summer 2019.
The adaptation of the classic Disney animated film will be directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Jungle Book) as announced last year.
This year also marks the 23rd anniversary of the original version of The Lion King which would make the movie’s release year, 2019, the 25th anniversary.
You can see Disney’s official post on Instagram below:
As you can see in the post above, the movie will star Donald Glover (Atlanta, Spider-Man: Homecoming) as the voice of Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as the voice of Nala, and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange) as the voice of the villainous Scar. Ejiofor was previously rumored to be voicing Scar in June of this year before being confirmed by Disney.
James Earl Jones, the original voice of Mufasa, will in fact be reprising his role in this version of the film. Jones is also known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy as well as Star Wars: Episode III and Rogue One. Alfre Woodard (12 Years a Slave, Captain America: Civil War, Luke Cage) will be the voice of Sarabi, who is Mufasa’s queen and Simba’s mother.
John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) is set to be voice of Zazu while John Kani (Captain America: Civil War) will voice the Rafiki. Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, Difficult People) and Seth Rogen (The Interview, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) will voice the iconic duo of Timon and Pumba respectively.
Eric Andre (Two Broke Girls, Man Seeking Woman), Florence Kasumba (Black Panther), and Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele, Keanu) will each voice the hyena trio Azizi, Shenzi, and Kamari respectively.
Finally, child actors JD McCrary (K.C. Undercover, Vital Signs) and Shahadi Wright Joseph (School of Rock – The Musical, Hairspray Live!) will serve as the voices for Young Simba and Young Nala respectively.
What do think of the cast of The Lion King? Are you excited to see the movie when it premiers in 2019? Let us know by tweeting us @CelebMix!
