Beyoncé
Rob Hoffman/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment
Grammy winner Beyoncé is the first choice of director Jon Favreau to provide the voice for the role of Nala in the upcoming Disney remake of the hit 1994 film The Lion King, according to Variety.
The award-winning singing actor, whose screen credits include Epic, Obsessed, Dreamgirls, and Austin Powers in Goldmember, has yet to make a decision about the film, although both the studio and director would make whatever accommodations are necessary for Beyoncé, who is pregnant with twins, to be part of the picture.
As previously reported, two-time Tony winner James Earl Jones, who voiced the role of Mufasa in the original Disney blockbuster, will play the same part in the upcoming remake. Donald Glover, who won a 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy for his work in Atlanta, has been cast as Simba. He is also known for playing Troy Barnes in the TV series Community.
Disney, which had a hit with its combination live action and CGI remake of The Jungle Book—also directed by Favreau—and which released a live-action Beauty and the Beast March 17, announced in September 2016 that it was planning a combination live/CGI film remake of the The Lion King. Disney said on its website: “Like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King will include songs from the animated film.”
TheLionKing, Disney's 1994 animated feature film, includes music by Elton John and Tim Rice and features the voices of Matthew Broderick (Adult Simba), Jones (Mufasa), Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Young Simba), Nathan Lane (Timon), Ernie Sabella (Pumba), Jeremy Irons (Scar), Robert Guillaume (Rafiki), and Whoopi Goldberg (Shenzi). The film earned more than $1 billion for Disney and won Oscars for the Elton John-Tim Rice song Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Hans Zimmer's original score.
The multi-Tony Award-winning musical The Lion King, directed by Tony winner Julie Taymor, continues at the Minskoff Theatre.
