'The Lion King Remake' Film Updates: 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Scribe Jeff Nathanson to Write Screenplay for Disney, Jon Favreau to Direct

‘The Lion King Remake’ is an upcoming adaptation of the original Disney film from the 1990s. Jeff Nathanson of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ is set to pen the screenplay with Jon Favreau of ‘The Jungle Book’ directing.

According to Deadline, Nathanson will pen the screenplay for the planned remake of the classic Disney animated musical film of the same name released in 1994. This will not be the first time the 51-year old veteran writer will be collaborating with the studio as he has also been tasked to prepare the screenplay for the upcoming installment in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ slated to hit theaters in 2017.

Other full-feature films to Nathanson’s credit include 2001’s ‘Rush Hour 2’, 2002’s ‘Catch Me If You Can’, 2004’s ‘The Terminal’ co-written with Sacha Gervasi and Andrew Niccol, 2007’s ‘Rush Hour 3’, and 2008’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ co-written with David Koepp and George Lucas.

The upcoming film is part of Disney’s slate of live-action adaptations and remakes. One of the most recent remakes, ‘The Jungle Book’, was deemed a critical and commercial success following its release on April 2016. According to The Numbers, it earned $963.90 million on a production budget of $175 million.

Other upcoming remakes include ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Dumbo’, ‘The Sword in the Stone’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Cruella’ (101 Dalmatians), ‘Mulan’, ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Winnie the Pooh’, and ‘Tink’ – a film focusing on Peter Pan’s miniature fairy friend Tinker Belle.

Jon Favreau, who directed ‘The Jungle Book’, has also come aboard to direct the ‘Lion King’ remake. Although an official release date is yet to be confirmed, production is reportedly being fast tracked, according to Cinema Blend. Songs from the original animated film will also be featured.

‘The Lion King’ is a planned remake of the original 1994 Disney film of the same name. It will be directed by Jon Favreau and written by Jeff Nathanson.

The original film featured an ensemble voice cast that included Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Moira Kelly, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jim Cummings. It also won multiple accolades including two Academy Awards and was deemed one of the highest-grossing films of all time after earning $968.5 million on a budget of $45 million.