Disney has announced Jon Favreau will direct a re-imagining of THE LION KING.
Sounds like a pretty big undertaking. Regarding the casting of the movie, there have been some little hints along the way. Favreau often calls upon his “usual suspects” to perform in his movies, so it’s time to dig deep and guess who Favreau will cast in his rendition of THE LION KING…
Here they are:
SIMBA: Tom Holland
Holland was in a picture with Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. where is was captioned that they were discussing Favreau’s next project…
NALA: Daisy Ridley
No prior-Favreau association, but golly she would be terrific. I was originally thinking Scarlett Johansson (as she is in everything Favreau does), but teamed with the Holland/Simba guess, I’m going to skew a bit younger. Seeing as how it’s a voice over role, it probably wouldn’t pull her too far away from her STAR WARS commitments either…
MUFASA: Idris Elba
I originally had Jeff Bridges (IRON MAN), but after some thought… There is no one except Idris Elba (THE JUNGLE BOOK) who could take over for James Earl Jones’ booming vocal warmth.
SCAR: Robert Downey Jr.
He worked with Favreau in every IRON MAN and CHEF. He is also in “the picture.”
TIMON: John Leguizamo
Worked with Favreau in CHEF.
PUMBA: Oliver Platt
Worked with Favreau in CHEF.
SARABI: Halle Berry
She hasn’t worked with Jon Favreau before, but wouldn’t it be great to see him take Sarabi in a different direction much like he did with Raksha in THE JUNGLE BOOK? Halle Berry would be wonderful for a part like this!
RAFIKI: Donald Glover
Another actor who hasn’t worked with Favreau, but his humor, high energy, and musical abilities make him a shoe-in for a major role.
ZAZU: John Oliver
Just perfection.
SHENZI: Sofia Vergara
She worked with Favreau in CHEF.
BANZAI: Sam Rockwell
He worked with Favreau in IRON MAN 2 and COWBOYS & ALIENS.
What do you think?
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