‘The Lion King’ Roars to Life with Disney’s Amazing Brand New Trailer For the Live-Action Film

‘Aladdin’ (May 24, 2019)

This adaptation promises to be an amazing experience — how could it not with Will Smith playing the role of Genie (made famous by the late Robin Williams in the original)? Joining him is Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Jasmine, and Marwan Kenzari as the vile Jafar.

Of her role as Jasmine, Naomi explained to Elle, “Being a female character is also about being a real person, and guess what? [She] can be strong and have fun, but also get it wrong and be emotional. She’s a multidimensional woman, and she doesn’t have to just be one thing. So in this movie, you see her go on such a roller coaster, as opposed to her one goal being to fall in love or get married.

“You really get in this adaptation of the movie that her heart is for her people,” she adds, “and her main objective is what’s best for her kingdom. And you really get a sense that she has those leadership qualities within her.”

‘The Lion King’ (July 19, 2019)

In some ways, it seems strange to refer to the upcoming version of The Lion King as live-action when, in truth, all of the characters are going to be created via CG and motion capture anyway. Nonetheless, we cannot wait for this one. Check out this voice cast: Donald Glover (Simba), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Scar), Billy Eichner (Timon), Alfre Woodard (Sarabi), Beyoncé (Nala), John Oliver (Zazu), and James Earl Jones (reprising his role from the original, Mufasa).

Despite his track record, director Jon Favreau admits that this project “terrifies” him, even more so than adapting The Jungle Book did. “The Jungle Book was 50 years ago,” he said or the animated original at the Tribeca Film Festival, “but The Lion King was only 20. It came out in the age of video where people were watching it over and over again. So I have to prioritize that when I’m directing. I have to try and honor what was there. In some ways, it’s like bringing a Broadway play back, because there are certain expectations.

“I tried to keep it on the edge of being real,” he continued. “The Lion King people really know it and they grew up with it. They have an emotional connection. I think memory is like a compression software; you can’t remember everything, so you prioritize what’s important. I think, ‘What do I remember about The Lion King? What do I remember about The Jungle Book? I remember Mowgli and the snake; the snake’s eyes; Baloo and the river. Those are the images we definitely need in [the new live-action movie]. Then you look back at it and you realize here’s things you don’t remember, which you can explore a little more. But there’s an added pressure to these beloved stories, especially these deep-seated ones, because there’s an emotional connection.”

‘Lady and the Tramp’ (2019)

Next year Disney will be launching its own streaming service that, besides older titles, will be including a variety of original programming, including Marvel series featuring the characters of Loki and Scarlet Witch, a 10-episode live action Star Wars show, and a live-action version of Disney’s 1955 animated film Lady and the Tramp. Observes The Hollywood Reporter, “The centerpiece of the movie is the candlelit spaghetti dinner in an alley while two human cooks sing and play ‘Bella Notte,’ considered one of the most iconic scenes in Disney and movie history.”

In an interview with Collider, cast member Thomas Mann notes that the film will use real rather than CG dogs. “We shot with the dogs, every day,” he says. “They were on set and they weren’t even trained. They found these dogs and started training them about three months before. They just wanted to find the perfect dogs. The main dog’s name was Rose, who played Lady. It was crazy because they didn’t know they were working, so they would run off in the middle of a take, and then come back over. You have to be extra patient because you have to be good every time for when they are good once. It was a lot of fun.”

‘Mulan’ (March 27, 2020)

Based on the 1998 animated film, the story, says Disney, is “the epic adventure of a fearless young woman who masquerades as a man in order to fight Northern Invaders attacking China. The eldest daughter of an honored warrior, Hua Mulan is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. When the Emperor issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army, she steps in to take the place of her ailing father as Hua Jun, becoming one of China’s greatest warriors ever.”

In the live-action film, the role of Mulan is being played by Liu Yifei, who is pictured in costume above. Actress Ming-Na Wen, who voiced Mulan in the animated version, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the power of the tale, commenting, “The story itself kept to the idea of this young girl wanting to protect her father, and she was brave enough to go into battle and become such a heroine … It had staying power. I go to these Comic-Con conventions and as much as I get people who love S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent May — that strong female character and what she represents — there are so many women and young girls who come up to me [because of Mulan]. It’s incredible to meet these people and have them tell me their stories of how it’s influenced them and inspired them, [because] they don’t feel like they were represented, which was something I never thought about, because all I thought about was this folklore. Now when you see the Disney princesses, they’re all very independent and they don’t need someone to save them — that’s the legacy of Mulan, which is wonderful.”

‘Maleficent 2’ (May 29, 2020)

In the same way Broadway’s Wicked paints a more sympathetic portrait of The Wicked Witch of the West, 2014’s Maleficent attempts the same with the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty. Well, Angelina Jolie, who brought to life the character’s transformation from fierce protector of her people to someone bent on vengeance, is reprising the role in this new film.

Little is known about the sequel, though back in 2014 she did reveal to the press her feelings about the character: “Part of the thing with this role is that you realize that there’s no half-way. If you’re going to do it, you can’t kind of do it. You have to just go fully into it and enjoy it. The original was done so well, and her voice was so great, and the way she was animated was so perfect that, if anything, I just was worried that I’d fail the original. But, I practiced a lot with my children. When I got them laughing, I figured that I was on to something.”

‘Pinocchio’ (TBD)

Recently there was an E! News report that Tom Hanks (that’s right, Woody himself from the Toy Story films) will be playing Gepetto, the marionette maker who carves Pinocchio out of wood. Pinocchio, in turn, is brought to life by the Blue Fairy to begin what becomes a massive quest to become a real live boy; a quest that nearly kills poor Gepetto as the search for his “son” leads him to the inside of the belly of a whale. No confirmation from Tom on this, and there is word that the production schedule of Pinocchio might overlap with the sci-fi film he’ll be doing, Bios, which could prevent him from taking the part. The original animated version of Pinocchio was released by Disney back in 1940.

‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (TBD)

The most recent of Disney’s live-action films to be announced is an adaptation of 1996’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which itself had been based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Josh Gad will be producing along with Mendeville Films, with David Henry Hwang, who won a Tony Award as the playwright of M. Butterfly, writing the screenplay. The music for the film will be composed by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

In the film version, the disfigured but overall tender and sensitive Quasimodo (voiced by Tom Hulce), who serves as the bell-ringer of the Notre Dame Cathedral, is locked away in a tower, his only company being the gargoyles all around him. He sees the opportunity for much more when he encounters Esmeralda (Demi Moore), a gypsy, who he ultimately must prevent from falling into the hands of his evil guardian, Frollo (Tony Jay).

Deadline, the site that originally reported the news, comments, “The new film will pull from [the] 1996 animated film and the Hugo novel, but not the stage production that Schwartz and Menken collaborated on in Europe. David Hoberman, who runs Mandeville with Todd Lieberman, has been fixated on a live-action Hunchback for over 30 years going back to when he was Disney film president. An early attempt led to the animated film and another resulted in a limited TV series on ABC. Now it has come back around as a feature film, and while it is early and not on the Disney release calendar, Hunchback has some of the most storied players from the stage and musical realms.”