Chiwetel Ejiofor in talks to voice Scar in Jon Favreau’s Lion King remake

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Much like he did for THE JUNGLE BOOK, Jon Favreau is assembling quite the talented group of actors to lend their voices to THE LION KING, the latest of Disney's increasingly long line of live-action adaptations of their classic movies. Although, seeing as how THE LION KING will be mostly CG, perhaps calling it live-action isn't quite appropriate. Just last month it was rumoured that Hugh Jackman would be playing Scar, Simba's cunning uncle who desires to be King of the Pride Lands, but Jackman's representative later said there was "absolutely no truth" to it. It now seems that Jon Favreau may have found his Scar as The Wrap reports that Chiwetel Ejiofor is currently in talks to take on the role.

Filling the shoes of Jeremy Irons, who so perfectly voiced the deliciously devious character in the animated film, will be no small task, but Chiwetel Ejiofor certainly has the chops to deliver a villainous performance. Should Ejiofor sign on, he would join Donald Glover as Simba, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, and John Oliver as Zazu. Earlier this year it was rumoured that Beyonce was Jon Favreau's top choice to voice Nala, Simba's best friend who would later become his wife, but scheduling conflicts may be keeping her from signing on. Production on the film is currently underway and a small taste was unveiled at Disney's recent D23 Expo which featured the "Circle of Life" opening sequence complete with "jaw-dropping" photo-real shots of African landscapes and animals. The clip came to an end when Rafiki introduced the newly born Simba to the animals below.

Jon Favreau's THE LION KING has been scripted by Jeff Nathanson (CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) and, for his part, Favreau is certainly aware of how highly regarded the original is as well as the challenges which he will have to face by remaking it.

The thing is that the animated version of The Lion King is — I don’t know how you outdo that. It works tremendously well. I think it was sort of the end of the era before the 3D animation started coming in, and I don’t think anybody wants to see an animated version because if you want to see an animated version, look at the original. It holds up, it’s still wonderful to watch. So the trick is can you make it look like you actually found real animals in a real environment? And how do you translate the story through that?

THE LION KING is set for a July 19, 2019 release.