Mufasa: The Lion King is coming out of the shadows and beginning to practice its roar.
On Tuesday, Disney and director Barry Jenkins played the movie’s first teaser trailer for theater owners gathered together this week in Las Vegas for CinemaCon. The teaser received a resounding round of applause for its stunning visuals and tone, and will be released in the coming weeks.
“It’s an expansive adventure,” said Jenkins when taking the stage.
The curiosity factor is running high when it comes to Mufasa. The music-infused film is an origin story and follow-up to Jon Favreau’s 2019 photorealistic movie The Lion King, which in turn was based on the 1994 Disney animated classic. “The film features the same immersive, photoreal environment that wowed audiences the first time,” said Disney global distribution president Tony Chambers.
Favreau’s version grossed a massive $1.7 billion at the global box office to become the top-grossing Disney-branded film in history and is the crown jewel among Disney’s live-action reimaginings. (It did draw scrutiny for its photorealistic style, with some saying it should be labeled animation and not live-action).
Jenkins’ film explores the background and journey of Mufasa, who grew up to be a powerful and compassionate ruler — he was also Simba’s father — after overcoming being an orphan who had to navigate the world. The teaser hints at these themes and shows a young cub who will embark on a journey across Africa.
“Audiences can expect so many things in this film — an epic story and a comedy with plenty of familiar faces. There are some absolutely hilarious moments and some with extreme gravitas,” said Jenkins, adding that there will be all new songs. “They’re handcuffing me, so I can’t tell you who made those songs, but I promise you the songs are absolutely amazing.”
The filmmaker, who has often talked about growing up poor, says making…
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