Beyonce Officially Joins Cast In Disney's "Lion King" Remake

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Singer Beyonce, winner of Best Urban Contemporary Album for 'Lemonade' and Best Music Video for 'Formation,' poses in the press room during The 59th GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Disney unveils the official "Lion King" cast.

The Lion King remake has stirred up a lot of buzz. For one, it's the Lion King, a classic movie in Disney's collection. For two, the rumors surrounding the cast members were filled with some of our favorite actors and musicians. Back in March, reports said Beyonce would play Nala. Director Jon Favreau expressed interest in Beyonce and believed she'd be an ideal candidate for the role. Today, Disney unveiled the official cast and Favreau's wishes came to fruition.

Disney tweeted a poster of the cast of the upcoming Lion King remake, which is set to drop in 2019. The cast includes Beyonce as the role of Nala and Donald Glover playing Simba. A young Simba will be played by JD McCrary, who sung on Childish Gambino's "Terrified" off of Awaken, My Love. The young version of Nala will be played by Shahadi Wright Joseph. Favreau was very favorable towards Beyonce voicing Nala. Despite her busy schedule, Favreau was willing to do whatever he could to make it happen. 

Along with them, James Earl Jones will return as the voice of Mufasa. They also cast Eric Andre as the role of Azizi, Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari, John Oliver as Zazu, John Kani as Rafiki, Seth Rogan as Pumba and Billy Eichner as Timon. They also cast Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar and Alfre Woodard as Sarabi. It's looking like a promising remake with such a star-studded cast. We've seen a lot of remakes mess up the originals but there's definitely hope for this one.

The movie's been in the talks for a few years now. Last year, Walt Disney finally confirmed Jon Favreau as the director. The choice to remake such a classic film was inspired the success of other live action movies of Disney Classics. Favreau previously directed the 2016 adaptation of The Jungle Book, as well. That was well received both commercially and critically. With Lion King being remade into the live action version, it'll be interesting to see how Favreau decides to approach the film.

Lion King is slated to be released on July 19, 2019. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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