James Earl Jones will reprise his role from the Lion King in the new live-action remake, the film’s director has revealed.
The veteran US actor voiced Simba’s father Mufasa in the original 1994 Disney animation, which won two Oscars and earned 968 million dollars (£780 million) at the box office.
Jon Favreau, who is directing the new version, posted a photo of James on Twitter with the caption: “Looking forward to working with this legend #mufasa.”
Looking forward to working with this legend. #Mufasa pic.twitter.com/1LszbWrcYT
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
Jon also revealed actor and musician Donald Glover, the star of TV comedy series Atlanta, will voice the character of Simba in the upcoming film.James, 86, is a Tony Award and Golden Globe winning actor who famously voices Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.Disney announced in September it was “putting a new re-imagining of The Lion King on the fast track to production” following the success of Jon’s live-action version of The Jungle Book.
I just can’t wait to be king. #Simba pic.twitter.com/wUYKixMBJI
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent have been also been remade by Disney in recent years, while Emma Watson and Dan Stevens will star in a live-action version of Beauty And The Beast due out in cinemas next month.
Jon is also directing a sequel to his version of The Jungle Book, which made 965 million dollars (£777 million) at the box office.
A release date for the new Lion King film has not been made public.