© 2016 – The Walt Disney Company(LOS ANGELES) — Continuing with what it hopes will be a successful live-action “re-imagining” of its properties, a laMaleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book, Walt Disney Pictures has given the go-ahead to a new version of its animated classic The Lion King.
The project is in good hands: director Jon Favreau, who not only called the shots with the Jungle Book, which made more than $960 million worldwide, but also the blockbusters Iron Man and Iron Man 2.
The filmmaker tweeted his feelings earlier Wednesday morning, with a simple: “Excited about my next project,” followed with a lion and a crown emoji. Minutes later, however, the actor-director-writer deleted the post, perhaps having realizing he’d jumped the gun with the official press release on the film.
He later re-posted it.
There’s no release date yet for The Lion King, but Disney’s next live-action adaptation, Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle, hits theaters March 17, 2017. Favreau is also working on a sequel to The Jungle Book.
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