
Swinging from their blockbuster collaboration on The Jungle Book, The Walt Disney Studios and helmer Jon Favreau are teaming on a new reimagining of The Lion King. The film is being fast-tracked to production, although no dates have been disclosed. Favreau teased the news via emoticon this morning across his social media:
Excited for my next project 🦁👑
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) September 28, 2016
Disney’s latest reimagining is the upcoming Beauty And The Beast. In similar fashion to that film, the live-action Lion King will include songs from the original animated pic.
In 1997, the stage production made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards. Nearly two decades later, it remains one of Broadway’s biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world, including London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Mexico City, Shanghai and North America. The 23 global productions have been seen by more than 85M people across every continent except Antarctica. The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
Favreau is exec producing and directing the premiere episode of Fox’s Seth MacFarlane series Orville and has a role in the next Spider-Man pic, Homecoming. He’s also exec producing 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and the following year’s Untitled Avengers Movie.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.