Oh We Just Can't Wait! Everything We Know About the Live-Action THE LION KING

One of the most highly anticipated films of 2019 is Disney's live action adaptation of their hit film turned musical, "The Lion King." Jon Favreau is directing a new take on Disney's 1994 classic animated film, featuring pioneering filmmaking techniques.

BroadwayWorld is here to fill you in on everything we know so far about the upcoming feature!

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1. The Cast

The film will star Donald Glover as future king Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Simba's friend-turned-love interest Nala, and James Earl Jones as Simba's wise and loving father, Mufasa, reprising his iconic performance from Disney's 1994 animated classic.

Chiwetel Ejiofor will portray Simba's villainous uncle Scar, and Alfre Woodard portrays Simba's no-nonsense mother, Sarabi. JD McCrary fills the shoes of Young Simba, a confident cub who can't wait to be king, and Shahadi Wright Joseph brings tough cub Young Nala to life.

John Kani was cast as the wise baboon Rafiki, and John Oliver was tapped as hornbill Zazu, Mufasa's loyal confidant. Seth Rogen lends his comedic chops to naïve warthog Pumbaa, and Billy Eichner joins the cast as know-it-all meerkat Timon.

The hyenas are Florence Kasumba who portrays Shenzi, Eric André as Azizi, and Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari.

2. The Music

Elton John is working with Beyonce to write new music for the remake. The movie is set to feature four of the film's original songs by John and Tim Rice. Elton John told The Sun, "They need to have a new end credits song. There's going to be four of our songs in the film, from the original: 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?', 'Hakuna Matata', 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' and 'Circle of Life'. And then there will be an end, closing song, and we've been speaking to Beyonce's people and hopefully Tim and I and her can cook up something."

It's recently been confirmed that Scar's famous number, "Be Prepared" will be included in the film.

Hans Zimmer will also return to score the film, as he did for the animated classic.

3. The Trailer

On Thanksgiving, Walt Disney Studios released the trailer for "The Lion King," which has now been viewed almost 60 million times!

4. The Release

From Disney Live Action, "The Lion King" is slated for U.S. theaters on July 19, 2019, which marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the original film.

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Keep a look out on BroadwayWorld for any future news regarding "The Lion King" and mark your calendars for July 19!

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