Jon Favreau to Helm Live-Action LION KING Movie for Disney

Director and actor Jon Favreau turned to Twitter this morning to tease the news that he will be directing a live-action LION KING movie for Walt Disney. (check out tweet below!) According to Comingsoon.net, the studio has confirmed the news that the reimagining of the classic animated film will be fast-tracked to production. Favreau served as director of Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK reboot which earned a whopping $965.8 million at the global box office.

The project joins Disney's other recent reimaginings of its classic animated films, including Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. The highly anticipated BEAUTY AND THE BEAST movie, starring Emma Watson as Belle, will premiere in 2017. According to the site, the Lion King reboot will include songs from the animated film. No release date has been announced.

Released in theaters in 1994, THE LION KING was a global box office smash, grossing $968.8 million, including $422.8 million domestically. It received Academy Awards for the original song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Elton John, Tim Rice) and original score (Hans Zimmer), as well as two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14 million copies.

In 1997, the stage production THE LION KING debuted on Broadway, earning six Tony Awards. The production continues to run and remains one of Broadway's biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world, including London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Mexico City, Shanghai, and North America. Translated into eight different languages, its 23 global productions have been seen by more than 85 million people across every continent except Antarctica.

Image courtesy of Walt Disney