Jon Favreau to direct live-action Lion King

Jon Favreau’s live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book was an immense critical and financial success. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Disney has enlisted him to direct a live-action remake of The Lion King next.

Favreau announced that he’d be helming the project on Twitter. The news has since been confirmed by Disney. Favreau is also on board to direct a sequel to The Jungle Book.

Excited for my next project ??

— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) September 28, 2016

Up until Frozen came along, The Lion King was Walt Disney Studios’ highest-grossing animated feature ever. Even over 20 years after its initial release, the film is still making Disney big bucks. The question is if the animals in this live-action remake will be CGI or will Favreau take a page from Julie Taymor’s broadway version?

The Lion King is just one of many live-action remakes Disney has lined up. Beauty and the Beast is set to come out next year with Emma Watson as Belle. Is Disney remaking too many of their animated classics, though? We actually wrote a feature on this, which you can view here.