On Thanksgiving, Disney unveiled thevery first trailerfor thelive-actionLion King, for lack of a better description. But in addition to the goosebump-inducing teaser trailer, Disney also dropped the very first teaser poster for the film, and it is “totes adorbs” as they say. While described as live-action,The Lion Kingis actually mostly CGI. DirectorJon Favreaurevisits the same technology he used to bringThe Jungle Bookto life a few years ago, but whereas that film was anchored by a real human boy,The Lion Kingis wall-to-wall animation. Where this new movie differs from the 1994 film is that this version boasts high-tech photoreal CG animation, as opposed to the 2D animation that first brought Simba, Scar, and the whole gang into our lives over 20 years ago.
We’ll no doubt learn a lot more about how, exactly, Favreau and Co. pulled this whole thing off down the line, but for now it’s simply a marvel to behold. Even this teaser poster, which hints towards the two versions of Simba we meet in the context of the story, is absolutely gorgeous.
There are already complaints that this film is just a shot-for-shot remake of the 1994 film, but we don’t necessarily know that for sure. For one, this new version has a screenplay credited toJeff Nathanson(Catch Me If You Can), which means a new scriptwaswritten. Favreau certainly put his own twist onThe Jungle Bookwhile maintaining the spirit of the original Disney classic and I expect he’ll do the same here, toeing a line similar to howBill CondonapproachedBeauty and the Beasta few years back.
But honestly, even if this were a shot-for-shot remake, it’d probably still clean up at the box office. Disney’s track records with these “live-action remake” movies has been stellar thus far, and 2019 will bring us further into the nostalgia-heavy 1990s era of Disney classics withThe Lion KingandGuy Ritchie’sAladdin. Hold on to your butts, folks.
Check out theLion Kinglive-action remake poster below. The film starsDonald Gloveras Simba,Beyonce Knowles-Carteras Nala,Chiwetel Ejioforas Scar,Bill Eichneras TImon,Seth Rogenas Pumba,Alfre Woodardas Sarabi,John Kanias Rafiki, andJames Earl Jonesreprises his role as Mufasa.The Lion Kingopens in theaters on June 22, 2025.
