The Lion King (Live-Action)

[Vlad]

Very excited about this one. The cast looks promising, and I'm very curious to see what the director will do to the story. I'm still hoping that Disney would release the footage they showed at the D23 Expo online.

[Kyle]

I'm annoyed they changed two of the hyiana's names.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't get the name changes either.

[JeanGreyForever]

Shenzi is the only Swahili name. Ed is obviously short for Eddie or Edward and Banzai is a Japanese word. So the new names make much more sense.

[Kyle]

Yeah but this is an adaptation of an original* story. These characters have already been established. Might as well use the Swahili word for scar too if we're going that route.

[JeanGreyForever]

Yeah but this is an adaptation of an original* story. These characters have already been established. Might as well use the Swahili word for scar too if we're going that route.

Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella technically changed names for characters though too. Fifi/Babette became Plumette. Drizella became Drisella (not much of a difference but still). Jaq became Jaqueline. And even Cinderella became Ella. Ed and Banzai were always odd names in an African setting, so I'm glad Disney is changing them now. Honestly, most people don't even remember their names and just call them the hyenas. They're minor characters like the ones I listed above, so it's not really a big deal that their names are being changed. There's a difference between the word Scar and Ed. Ed is very much an American name (or nickname) which really throws you out of the setting when you hear it. Scar isn't even a name but a physical descriptor so it's totally different. If you change it to Swahili, people don't understand it anymore. The hyenas don't require names with major meaning. Also Scar is too iconic to have his name changed. He's in a completely different league compared to his sidekicks. That would be like comparing the names of Cruella to Horace and Jasper. Most people wouldn't even remember the latter two's names, whereas Cruella's name is known throughout the world.

[Sotiris]

So, a key-framed, CG-animated film is not animated if it's in a photorealistic style. Gotcha.

You would be hard-pressed to looked at those African vistas and realize it wasn't shot on location. But should this be considered an animated movie? It’s a question The Hollywood Reporter asked [The Lion King’s VFX supervisor Rob Legato] and without hesitation, he said no. “I don’t consider this an animated movie,” he said. “I consider this just a movie, and this happened to be the best way to make it. We [made] it comfortable for Jon Favreau to come in and be able to direct as if it was a live-action film.”

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind ... lm-1054516

[D82]

We [made] it comfortable for Jon Favreau to come in and be able to direct as if it was a live-action film.”

So it isn't. They themselves inadvertently admit it.

[Disney's Divinity]

I imagine Dinosaur featured more live-action than this film will. Even most of the environments will be digitally created here.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I've never been that fond of The Lion King, so I don't particularly care that this is happening. But, I do like some of the cast--Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, James Earl Jones, and (yes) Beyoncé--so that does have me mildly interested in the project.

[thedisneyspirit]

So this creepy semi realistic CGI that'll badly age in five years will still fill the theaters because the power of nostalgia goggles is so strong.

Bc I doubt the casting will work for international audiences. Bc any french or spaniard that wants to hear Beyonce will sadly have to contend themselves with the dubber of the moment.

[Sotiris]

It turns out Elton John may be involved with the film's production after all. In what capacity though, remains to be seen.

With the live-action remake of Disney's The Lion King currently in production, Elton John says he's looking to get on board. [...] As for his whether or not he'll be participating in the upcoming live-action remake, John told ET, "Yes, I think so. I hope so." While the iconic singer wasn't able to tease any details about what his involvement would entail, it's hard to imagine any interpretation of The Lion King without John's musical compositions.

Source: http://www.etonline.com/elton-john-hope ... sive-90682

[Disney's Divinity]

Yeah, I was wondering if Disney would dare be rude and dismissive to Elton John like they've done with Menken. Elton John's already lambasted them in the past over Gnomeo & Juliet, but he'd be more likely to be heard concerning a much more popular property like TLK.

[Sotiris]

Elton John may be writing new songs for The Lion King remake.

Sir Elton John will bank as much as $13 million thanks to the upcoming live-action remake of the Disney cartoon “The Lion King.” The British pop star has agreed to a deal to rework his smash hit compositions from the 1994 animated musical film. His hits “Circle Of Life” and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” will be modified in the new version of the film that’s set for release in 2019.

Disney Studios has secured John for the project, but will not announce it for several more weeks. Insiders say that the licensing deal is worth at least $4 million, but will rise in commission from DVD sales and streaming. Earnings from new album sales and royalties on radio worldwide will boost his bank balance too. And on top of that, ticket sales from “The Lion King” stage productions worldwide will likely increase dramatically after the 2019 film release.

A source in L.A. said: “Elton is working with Disney on this new ‘Lion King’ project. They have reached an agreement to present some reworked versions of the classic hits and perhaps some new work. The songs will be thread into the storyline. It is unthinkable when you have Beyoncé involved not to have her sing some of those iconic hits — and that means huge sales to a new generation. The deal is a huge one and will earn him millions at many stages. Obviously he will get a one off licensing deal followed by a cut in royalties from all aspects of the work.”

The 70-year-old star will have to find time in his schedule to rework the musical tracks once he completes his residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in May.

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.3660427

The Lion King soundtrack is pretty roar-some as it is, but Beyoncé and Elton John are primed to improve on perfection. They are to revamp the score for the upcoming CG-animated movie, recording new songs and reworking the classics.The pair are to team up in a US studio later this month. It comes after speculation that the duo would re-record songs from the original soundtrack.

A source said: “Beyoncé has already started working on the soundtrack with Hans Zimmer, who scored the original film, and she knew it wouldn’t be right to do it without Elton on board. She was the one who reached out to him last year. The finer details of Elton’s contract are being worked out, then they plan to enter the studio together in the US. He is a big fan of hers and shares her vision of what they could do together. Circle Of Life and Can You Feel The Love Tonight are such classics, but they want to add new songs which will become classics in their own right. It was really important to Beyoncé that she was heavily involved in creating the soundtrack. She is putting a lot of time and effort into the film and she is confident it will be huge.”

Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/5 ... oundtrack/

[Sotiris]

The Lion King's Jeremy Irons jokingly grumbles about not landing a role in the Disney live-action remake
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/the-li ... on-remake/

John Kani talks the 'unbelievable cast' of The Lion King and telling an 'African story'
http://ew.com/movies/2018/01/30/the-lio ... can-story/

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't think Irons is really bothered, but I wouldn't blame him if he was considering they brought James Earl Jones back.

[Kyle]

I wouldn't blame him at all. He's just as important as Scar as James was as mufassa. Its hard to imagine anyone else taking over that role. And seeing him replaced in the lion guard only cements this for me. The character doesn't work without him.

[Sotiris]

Elton John and Tim Rice will be writing one new song for the remake that Beyoncé will be singing over the end credits. None of the Broadway songs will be included in the film.

In an exclusive interview, Elton told me: “They need to have a new end credits song. There’s going to be four of our songs in the film, from the original: 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight', 'Hakuna Matata', 'I Just Can’t Wait To Be King', and 'Circle of Life'. And then there will be an end, closing song, and we’ve been speaking to Beyonce’s people and hopefully Tim and I and her can cook up something. That’s going out in 2019 as well. And it will be great to work with her. So we will see.”

And although it isn’t due to hit cinemas until July 19 next year, Elton revealed he has already been given a sneak peek. He teased: “I’ve seen a little bit of the opening of it, which is amazing. Jon Favreau is directing it, he did an amazing job on The Jungle Book. The film is going to be amazing.”

Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/5 ... oundtrack/

[Nandor]

This just keeps getting worse. Now Be Prepared has been cut?

[Sotiris]

Now Be Prepared has been cut?

I hope Elton just forgot to mention it. It's be a real shame if they cut it. It's one of the better songs in the film.