On Friday night (Feb. 17), The Lion King movie director Jon Favreau took to Twitter to announce that Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) will be playing the role of Simba in the forthcoming remake of the 1994 classic film.
I just can’t wait to be king. #Simba pic.twitter.com/wUYKixMBJI
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
Favreau also announced that James Earl Jones will retain his role as Mufasa.
Looking forward to working with this legend. #Mufasa pic.twitter.com/1LszbWrcYT
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
Since the success of FX comedy series Atlanta, Glover landed the role of Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo Star Wars movie. The role was previously portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. Filming will begin this year and will be released in 2018.
There is no word as to when The Lion King remake, will hit theaters.
Fans of Atlanta comedy series will have to wait until 2018 for Season 2 of the critically acclaimed comedy. The network made the heartbreaking announcement at the Television Critics Association last month, Deadline reports.
The year-long setback is due to lead actor Donald Glover’s grueling upcoming schedule.
Last month at the Golden Globe Awards, Atlanta won Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, but it was Glover’s speech that stole the show for Hip Hop.
After beating out Transparent, Black-ish, Veep and Mozart in the Jungle, Glover appeared on stage to give his acceptance speech. During his acceptance speech, Glover thanked the city of Atlanta and also the group Migos.
“I’d like to thank the Migos—not for being on the show, but for making ‘Bad and Boujee.’ Like, that’s the best song… ever.”
The Migos, who appeared in an episode in the breakout show, in which Quavo appeared as a “connect” who shoots a guy in the middle of the woods. The Migos who are Hip Hop’s hottest group right now dropped their official sophomore album Culture on Jan. 27, while “Bad and Boujee,” their biggest single to date, peaked at number two on the Billboard charts.
