SA’s John Kani joins all-star

SA’s John Kani joins all-star cast for ‘The Lion King’ remake

Walt Disney is bringing The Lion King to life once again with Beyonce, John Kani and James Earl Jones ready to take on their respective roles!

SA’s John Kani joins all-star

Music sensation Beyonce Knowles-Carter and South African actor and director, John Kani are among the all-star cast set to star in the live-action remake of The Lion King. Walt Disney confirmed the news earlier today.

The remake will follow the story of the 1994 animated film set in Africa. The original story follows the adventures of the young lion Simba and his father Mufasa who has to deal with Simba’s wicked uncle, Scar.

The Lion King is said to be the biggest animated films of all time, with a lifetime global box-office gross of just under $1 billion.

The new remake sees James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa, while John Kani is cast in the role of Rafiki. Beyonce is set to voice in the role of Simba’s childhood friend and love interest Nala and actress Alfre Woodard will voice Simba’s mother, Sarabi.

Young Simba will be voiced by Donald Glover (who recently starred in Solo: A Star Wars Story), while Chiwetel Ejiofor (Twelve Years A Slave) will take on the role of the bad guy – or shall we say ‘bad’ Lion – Scar.

Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner will voice the two best friends and adorable, Timon and Pumba while John Oliver will star as the hornbill, Zazu.

Director Jon Favreau, who also directed Disney’s hit live-action remake of The Jungle Book in 2016, said in a statement confirming the cast: “It is a director’s dream to assemble a talented team like this to bring this classic story to life.

“This is a story that belongs to everyone who grew up with the original film. I wanted to demonstrate that we could be respectful of the source material while bringing it to life using new techniques and technologies.”

The production is reportedly set to be released in July 2019, but it seems online debates have already begun: