As usual, Disney waited until late afternoon to make a major announcement, but it’s always nice to end the day with some awesome news. Today, it’s the full voice cast ensemble for The Lion King, Jon Favreau’s live-action (-ish) reimagining of the studio’s animated classic — and perhaps the most exciting project on their upcoming (and growing) slate of live-action remakes.
You may remember pop star Beyoncé Knowles from her stint in the late-’90s/early-’00s R&B girl group Destiny‘s Child with “Pretty Girl Rock” singer Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams (not the one from Manchester by the Sea). But did you know that the celebrated performer has cultivated an active solo career in the years since the group that made her famous broke up? Believe it or not, Knowles released a string of successful studio records over the past decade, starred in the music-video-compilation film Lemonade last year, and wed rapping man Jayson Z in 2008. And with that, I have completed my impression of someone who only heard of Beyoncé when scanning her Wikipedia page just now. We all know who Beyoncé is. She‘s Beyoncé.
So get ready for the best news you’ll hear probably all week. (Yes, I know it’s Friday, but I’m very excited and am losing the ability to process linear time.) Not only is Donald Glover voicing Simba in Jon Favreau’s live-action The Lion King, but none other than James Earl Jones will be lending his vocal talents to Simba’s father Mufasa.
With the news that Jon Favreau was directing a live-action remake of arguably THE most popular Disney movie of all time, The Lion King, people were undoubtedly excited. Favreau successfully launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s Iron Man, believed by many to still be the best Avengers movie, and has had a few notable successes since, including Chef in 2014 and this summer’s almost-entirely-CGI remake of The Jungle Book. The latter did so well that Disney hired Favreau again to direct The Lion King, and today it was announced that the film has found a screenwriter.
In one of The Jungle Book’s more inspired bits of casting, Scarlett Johansson voices the python Kaa, a character typically portrayed as male. Johansson's distinctive voice is perfect for the hypnotic snake, who lulls Mowgli into a precarious sense of ease as she recounts his origin story in this new IMAX trailer for Jon Favreau's re-telling of the classic tale.
We know that Tony Stark's Iron Man suit is powerful—when fully charged, it can lift over 100 tons—but, we probably didn't realize just how heavy it is. The original suit in the first ‘Iron Man’ movie weighed over 90 lbs. That's big, hot costume to have to act in all day. And, to think, it was almost not even Robert Downey, Jr. underneath all that armor. Find out which other actors made the cut, and a lot more, in the latest invincible installment of You Think You Know Movies!