Pre-production is underway on Barry Jenkins’ sequel to the “The Lion King.” If I had to bet, Jenkins is being payed a mighty sum of money to make this movie.
At D23, an official title was confirmed: “Mufasa: The Lion King.” Edgy. So was a Summer 2024 release date. Jenkins elaborated in his presentation that he sees himself in Mufasa: "Mufasa is great because of the family and the friends that he has." How cute.
Last September, news broke that Jenkins was set to direct this Disney-backed movie. It shocked many in the industry, but it shouldn’t be that surprising. Jenkins’ movies such as “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” were not hard-earners at the box-office. The writer-director probably needed the cash.
Jeff Nathanson, the writer behind the misbegotten 2019 “Lion King,” is back to script the sequel. The 2019 film, directed by Jon Favreau, was horrendously bland, there was none of the excitement and sense of adventure of the original 1994 animated classic. Of course, with Jenkins at the helm of the sequel, there is the slight possibility that something special could arise, but, with the full mouse house machine backing this expensive sequel, I doubt it.
Regardless, this is, technically speaking, the definition of “selling out,” but do you actually blame Jenkins for signing on? Signing on for the sequel of a movie that made $1 billion will help Jenkins fund more personal projects. It’s as simple as that. The kind of movies Jenkins likes to make are a dying breed right now.
However, one must ask, would David Lynch, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joel Coen, Wes Anderson, and Quentin Tarantino ever sign on to direct “Mufasa: The Lion King”? Of course not.
I can confirm that Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” is based on Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” It’s a ghost story. A gothic mystery.