The Lion King will hit the big screen on July 19, 2019.Disney has revealed the voice-cast of the live-action version of 1994 animated musical, The Lion King. Jon Favreau, who directed The Jungle Book for the studio in 2016, is helming the project. Hans Zimmer, the famous German composer who won an Oscar for his score for the original film, is returning for this film.
The Lion King is a story of a young lion cub in Africa whose father gets betrayed by his power-hungry uncle, Scar. Driven out of his kingdom, the cub, Simba, befriends Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog, and later, after counsel by his old friends, returns to challenge Scar and reclaim his kingdom.
The live-action version of the film features some big names. Here is the entire star cast:
Donald Glover as Simba: Glover, the Emmy winning actor from the TV series Atlanta who we last saw as a young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, will lend his voice to Simba.
Seth Rogen as Pumbaa: Rogen will voice the dimwitted warthog in The Lion King. Simba befriends Pumbaa along with the meerkat Timon.
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Oscar-nominated English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, known for his performance in 12 Years a Slave, plays Scar, the treacherous brother of Mufasa and the uncle of Simba. Ejiofor is also known for playing Karl Mordo in the Marvel film Doctor Strange.
Billy Eichner: Best known for hosting the game show Billy on the Street, Billy Eichner will voice the witty meerkat, Timon, a companion of Pumbaa and later a friend of Simba.
John Oliver as Zazu: Host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight and former The Daily Show correspondent, John Oliver will voice Zazu, a hornbill who is a political advisor to Mufasa and later Simba.
Keegan-Michael Key: Key & Peele star Keegan-Michael Key will voice a hysterical hyena, Kamari, who is one of Scar’s henchmen.
Beyoncé as Nala: The star singer will voice Nala, Simba’s childhood friend and later love-interest.
James Earl Jones as Mufasa: The veteran actor will reprise the role of wise king and Simba’s father in The Lion King’s live-action adaptation. He voiced the same character in the original animated film.
John Kani as Rafiki: The shaman of the Pride Lands and the ape who holds the baby Simba aloft in a famous scene from the animated movie will be voiced by South African actor John Kani.
The Lion King will hit the big screen on July 19, 2019.
