20 Feb – The upcoming remake of 1994 Disney classic "The Lion King" is moving along smoothly as director Jon Favreau has recently revealed two of the stars that will be attached to the project. Fans of the original will be glad to know James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa, is lending his voice to the character again. "Looking forward to working with this legend," Favreau posted on his Twitter account, along with a photo of the actor and the hashtag #Mufasa. Ahead of this post was another announcing the actor who will be voicing Mufasa's young son, Simba. It is none other than Donald Glover, whose photo is accompanied with the caption "I just can't wait to be king. #Simba". Jones, who has done numerous voice acting and is well-known for voicing Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" franchise, is a recipient of the Voice Arts Icon Award. Glover, meanwhile, has voiced several characters on TV including Spider-Man in the "Ultimate Spider-Man" series, but this will be his first major voice role in a movie.
There is no word yet whether the live-action take will stick close to its source material, but if Favreau's work in "The Jungle Book" last year is any clue, the remake will probably include a tweak here and there but will not deviate too much from the animated version. If done right, "The Lion King" could be another success for Favreau, whose 2016 "The Jungle Book" remake grossed USD966.6 million worldwide against its USD175 million budget. Apart from the live-action version of "The Lion King", Favreau is also currently working on the sequel to "The Jungle Book". No release dates have been set for either movie.