The Lion King could become its own Star Wars-like franchise, says Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Pictures.
"The Lion King could expand into a big, epic saga, like the Star Wars franchise," Bailey told The New York Times. "There's a lot of room to run if we can find the stories."
The 'live-action' remake of the Disney classic hit theaters in 2019, and took in over $1.7 billion at the global box office. Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson, the film follows the plot of the original 1994 film and features a score from original composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice.
The voice cast includes Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Eric Andre, Keegan-Michael Key, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, JD McCrary, and Beyonce.
Following the film's success, Mufasa: The Lion King, a photorealistic prequel directed by Barry Jenkins is in the works, and is scheduled for a summer 2024 release. The movie will chronicle Mufasa's life as a young cub, and set up the origins of his ultimately fatal feud with Scar. If Disney can keep finding new stories to tell within The Lion King universe, who's to say it couldn't expand to see Mufasa and Scar go out like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader?
Mufasa: The Lion King is set to hit theaters on July 5, 2024. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond, or, skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.
