$1.6 billion: One of the biggest blockbusters in history is getting a sequel

We know more about the sequel to one of the biggest blockbusters in movie history! With $1.6 billion at the international box office, 2019’s Jon Favreau’s The Lion King is in the top 10 of all time. So Disney quickly announced a second installment called Mufasa.

Directed by Barry Jenkins, who won an Oscar in 2017 for Moonlight, the feature film will be a prequel centered on the story of Simba’s father. And the first official synopsis has just been revealed.

The film tells the story of the rise of one of the greatest kings of the land of lions. Mufasa’s story is told by Rafik, Timon and Pumbaa to the young lioness Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala. A feature film written by Jeff Nathanson, who is already working on a “live-action” version of The Lion King, will therefore be presented in the form of Flashbacks.

Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen and John Kahn will return to the American voice cast, reprising their roles as Timon, Pumbaa and Rafik. Also returning is Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who worked on Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff’s 1994 The Lion King and its 2017 remake.

Mufasa and Scar wouldn’t really be brothers

In 2022, during D23, Disney’s annual convention, the studio released a short sequence of Mufasa. We could see Lion Rock and hear Rafiq.

On the other side of the savannah, a young lion cub is separated from its family by being caught in the rain. He survived and found the mysterious lion. At the end of the passage, Timon and Pumbaa appear and Timon sings: “Wait, I’m not in this story? They don’t look at me...”

We now know that two of Simba’s accomplices will be in Mufasa.

This excerpt raised a lot of questions from the audience. Mufasa would be taken over by the Lion King and therefore would not be his rightful heir. Which would explain why Scar is so mad at him. Therefore, Barry Jenkins’ film will allow us to better understand the complex relationship that exists between Scar and Mufasa.

At the launch of his film, Barry Jenkins confided in us that Miss Mufasa will have the same energy as his illustrious predecessor.

“It will be different from The Lion King, but it will have the same energy. Mufasa tells us how Simba’s father became the king. We tell his story from his childhood to the birth of his son. In the original film, Mufasa represents greatness. We admire his royalty, his leadership, we think he has it all , because he was born well…

But in this prequel, we explore how his friends and family made him who he is. We discover his journey. Mufasa means a lot to me and I think it’s a movie that kids and their parents who grew up with the Disney classic will enjoy watching.

Mufasa: The Lion King It will hit our theaters next Christmas, December 18, 2024.