More than a few media outlets have used BuzzFeedNews writer Adam B. Vary’s first reaction tweet of “The Lion King” in their headlines. In the tweet he claims that the upcoming live-action movie is “going to change how we look at movies forever.” Fine, a juicy quote that Disney could even surely use for their promo trailers and ads. However, he goes on to add that “as an *emotional* experience, though…I’ll put it this way: It turns out lions can’t really emote.” Doesn’t that kind of negate the usage of the former quote? Anyway, it didn’t stop IndieWire from slapping it as the titular headline of their article about yesterday’s premiere in Hollywood. Isn’t that dishonest to do in today’s clickbait zeitgeist? Where millions of people form their own opinions by not reading the article itself, but just its title in a tweet.
Jon Favreau directs ( a good thing), Beyonce is doing the soundtrack (another good thing) and the VFX does look spectacular. But this sounds, based on the tweet reactions, like a literal and faithful remake of the 1994 animated classic.
I’ll be seeing “The Lion King” tomorrow morning in Montreal.
“The Lion King” opens in theaters nationwide July 19.
Remember when, back in August, we learned “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” would be playing in only around 350 U.S. theaters, "maybe fewer"? Well, it's fewer. A lot fewer.