INSIDER
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office.
Over the four years he’s spent working on “Mufasa: The Lion King,” Barry Jenkins estimates that he’s been asked why he wanted to make it at least 400 times.
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NEW YORK – The Walt Disney Co. will make a follow-up to the 2019 live-action “The Lion King,” with Barry Jenkins, the director of the Oscar-winning “Moonlight” and the James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk,” set to direct. The new “Lion King” grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide, so a sequel was perhaps always likely. Less expected was a “Lion King” with Jenkins directing. The film, Disney said, will explore the mythology of “The Lion King,” including Mufasa's origin story. Disney didn't announce any further plot details or casting on the new “Lion King” project, which was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
(CNN) - "The Mandalorian" arrives with a lot of weight on its armored shoulders, not only representing the first live-action "Star Wars" series but easily providing the biggest original draw to help launch Disney+. That's a shrewd strategy, not only in keeping with "Star Wars'" roots but emulating the half-hour westerns that populated TV in its infancy -- an appropriate analogy, since "The Mandalorian" represents an ambassador for another new means of delivering entertainment. The character of Sabine in the animated "Star Wars Rebels" added to that lore, but it's still visually striking to see it elevated and showcased in this live-action format. That includes its real-world mission of giving "Star Wars" fans an incentive to subscribe, which the maiden flight looks well-suited, or armored, to carry out. The first episode of "The Mandalorian" is streaming on Disney+.
