Barry Jenkins Creates an Epic Prequel to ‘The Lion King’

Can you feel the love tonight? The audience at D23 certainly could as they were treated to the world premiere trailer of Barry Jenkins’ much-anticipated “Lion King” prequel, “Mufasa: The Lion King.” Production on the film has been underway for years, and the wait is finally nearing an end as it’s set to be released in theaters December 20 of this year, just in time for Christmas.

Jenkins’ “Mufasa” employs the same photorealistic imagery seen in Jon Favreau’s 2019 remake of “The Lion King” and features some of the same voice cast, including Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani. The narrative unfolds from Rafiki’s perspective as he narrates the story of one of Pride Land’s great leaders to Simba and Nala’s child, Kiara, played by Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. New cast members include Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as his adoptive brother, Taka, who would later become known as Scar.

Pierre and Harrison Jr. previously worked together this year on “Genius: MLK/X,” portraying Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., respectively. Speaking at CinemaCon, Jenkins acknowledged the seemingly unusual pairing of “Moonlight”’s director with such a massive IP but called it “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

He elaborated, “Audiences can expect so many things in this film: an epic story, comedy with plenty of familiar faces, some absolutely hilarious and some with extreme gravitas, new songs— all new songs. They’re handcuffing me; I can’t tell you who made those songs, but I promise you, the songs are absolutely amazing. And it’s an expansive adventure that journeys them all through the continent of Africa as Mufasa and Scar and all these other characters you know and love go on this journey to really find both the circle of life and how they can become the people that they are.”

The score will be composed by Jenkins’ frequent collaborator Nicholas Brittell, with Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams also contributing music. Songs will be written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina, and South African songwriter and composer Lebo M will provide additional vocals and performances.

Watch the trailer below.