Beyonce leads red carpet stars as ‘The Lion King’ roars back to life

Friday, 12 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

US singer/songwriter Beyonce arrives for the world premiere of Disney's ‘The Lion King’ at the Dolby theatre on 9 July in Hollywood – AFP

LOS ANGELES (Reuters): Beyonce led the stars behind the voices of ‘The Lion King’ down the red carpet on Tuesday at the world premiere of the remake of the 1994 Disney movie which uses computer-generated imagery to bring a realistic look to Pride Rock.

Depicting stunning African scenery, the new movie follows the same plot as the original Oscar-winning animation about lion cub Simba, who flees his kingdom after his villainous uncle Scar connives to take his father Mufasa’s place as king.

Actor Donald Glover is the voice behind the grown-up Simba, while Beyonce portrays his friend Nala. The cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (Scar), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa) and James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa in the 1994 film.

“I just listened to what (Beyonce) had to teach me,” Glover said of working with the Grammy Award winner.

“Only very few times do you get to work with somebody as iconic as Beyonce,” Glover said. “I was like, okay, we are like blending this thing together so let me just listen to what she is doing and play off of that.”

“The Lion King” was an instant hit with audiences around the world when it was originally released. A hugely successful musical theater version still runs on New York’s Broadway and in London.

“It’s like a recipe that will be delicious forever, it just works,” Rogen said of the story.

‘The Lion King’ remake, which begins its worldwide cinema roll-out in China on Friday before hitting other countries next week, follows new versions of ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Dumbo’. It is directed by Jon Favreau, who was behind the 2016 remake of ‘The Jungle Book’.