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Walt Disney Studios took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce the lineup for its highly anticipated 2019 reboot of The Lion King. To call it a star-studded cast is a bit of an understatement, as the film will feature Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar and James Earl Jones reprising his original role as Mufasa.
The film will also feature a wealth of other stars, including actress Alfre Woodard as Simba's mother Sarabi, and late-night host John Oliver as helpful hornbill Zazu. Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen will play the meerkat-and-warthog duo of Timon and Pumbaa; comedians Eric Andre and Keegan-Michael Key will lend their voices to the film as well, and actress Florence Kasumba will appear as antagonistic hyena Shenzi.
The CGI-animated remake of The Lion King is being directed by Jon Favreau (the Iron Man director, not the podcast host) and is slated for release in summer 2019, twenty-five years after the original film premiered in 1994.
#TheLionKing. 2019. 🦁👑 pic.twitter.com/rSDPkE6nWk
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) November 1, 2017
Rumors have swirled in Hollywood for months about Beyoncé's reported attachment to the project, but she waited until Wednesday to confirm her role as Nala in a Facebook post. Now that we know Queen Bey herself will be starring alongside Donald Glover's Simba, we can look forward to a whole new generation of kids insisting on listening to "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" forty times in a row on car trips.
