After underwhelming critics and the box office with Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Disney has two more chances to impress audiences with live-action remakes this summer with the upcoming releases of Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin and Jon Favreau’s The Lion King.
The latter is expected to be one of the biggest earners of the summer movie season. Not only did the first Lion King set a viewing record for Disney, but the footage the studio has shown so far has earned rave reviews.
If any criticism has been lobbied at The Lion King thus far, it’s that the movie’s trailers have made it appear the movie is a shot-for-shot remake of Disney’s 1994 animated classic.
For the 2019 remake, Favreau relied on the same VFX technology he used on Oscar winner The Jungle Book to create photorealistic animals that are not necessarily live-action, but come pretty close to the real thing.
The two trailers for the film include identical shots between the 2019 film and the 1994 animated hit, leading many to wonder if the film will just be a do-over with a new VFX sheen. Read more