Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King is a 2024 American musical drama film directed by Barry Jenkins from a screenplay written by Jeff Nathanson. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is photorealistically animated and serves as both a prequel and sequel to The Lion King (2019), the remake of the 1994 animated film of the same name. Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and John Kani reprise their roles from the remake; new cast members include Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, and Blue Ivy Carter in her feature film debut.
Development on a prequel to The Lion King was confirmed in September 2020, with Jenkins attached to direct and Nathanson finishing a draft of the script. Pierre and Harrison were announced as the voice cast in August 2021, followed by further casting between September 2022 and April 2024. The film was officially announced when its official title was revealed in September 2022 at the 2022 D23 Expo announcement. Production on the film slowed down in July 2023 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The film is dedicated to James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa in the 1994 film and the remake, and whose voice is heard briefly during the opening titles, having died before the film's release.
Mufasa: The Lion King premiered on December 9, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (through the Walt Disney Pictures banner) on December 20. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $721 million, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2024.
After Simba becomes King of the Pride Lands, he and Nala have a daughter named Kiara and are expecting another cub. They leave for an oasis where Nala can give birth, while Simba asks Timon and Pumbaa to watch over Kiara. Rafiki soon visits them and decides to share the story about her grandfather Mufasa, with Timon and Pumbaa providing color commentary in between.
Mufasa and his parents, Masego and Afia, search for the mythical Milele. A flood sweeps Mufasa into a wetland where he meets Taka, a royal cub. They are attacked by young crocodiles until Taka's mother, Queen Eshe, intervenes. She accepts Mufasa, but Taka's father, King Obasi, criticizes him for befriending an outsider. Obasi holds a race between his son and Mufasa to determine whether the latter can join his pride. When Mufasa lags due to exhaustion, Taka throws the race so he can stay.
As Mufasa and Taka grow up, they form a strong bond, though Obasi, a lazy king, continually tries to keep Taka with him and orders Mufasa to stay with the lionesses. Eshe teaches Mufasa to hunt and use his senses, among other life skills. While out hunting one day, two white lions attack them. Eshe takes a hit, so Mufasa jumps in to help her. He ends up killing one, and together they force the other to flee. Taka witnesses the attack but retreats in fear. The survivor informs Kiros, leader of the Outsiders, a pride composed of lions who were outcasted from their respective prides for their white fur. Kiros seeks vengeance for the death of his son, whom Mufasa killed, and approaches Obasi's pride. Sensing them coming, Mufasa warns them, and is ordered to flee with Taka. When they arrive, the Outsiders slaughter Obasi, Eshe, and the rest of their pride, and force Mufasa and Taka to escape over a waterfall and into a river.
When Mufasa and Taka reach land, they encounter a stray lioness named Sarabi (whose own family was killed by the Outsider pride), her hornbill scout Zazu, and, eventually, a younger Rafiki. Rafiki tells them he is going to Milele to find a “brother” he saw in prophetic visions, and the group follows him there. Taka develops romantic feelings for Sarabi. The Outsiders continue to pursue them, so Sarabi causes an elephant stampede to distract and disorient the Outsiders, allowing the group to escape. She is knocked unconscious after falling into the stampede's path, causing Mufasa to save her. Out of loyalty, he lies and tells Sarabi that Taka saved her.
The group heads through a snowy mountain range following Rafiki's direction, with Zazu covering their tracks in the snow. Sarabi tells Mufasa that she knows he saved her, and they soon fall in love. Secretly watching this, a jealous Taka meets Kiros and the lost and hungry Outsiders, offering a proposition for Kiros to get revenge on Mufasa for his son's death in exchange for Taka joining his pride. The next day, the group reaches Milele, a lush oasis, with Taka secretly leaving marks for the Outsiders to follow.
Rafiki finds the tree from his vision and claims Mufasa as his brother before the Outsiders attack. Mufasa learns of Taka's treachery while fighting Kiros. Despite this, Mufasa rallies the animals in Milele to fight off the Outsiders. Kiros forces Mufasa into a cave and prepares to finish him off. Seeing his brother exhausted and realizing what he has done, a remorseful Taka intervenes, causing Kiros to slash Taka's eye, leaving a scar. An earthquake occurs, causing Mufasa and Kiros to fall into a cave lake. Kiros attempts to drown Mufasa but a falling rock allows Mufasa to send Kiros plummeting to his death, and he swims away to safety. Mufasa has trouble getting out of the water but is again saved by Taka, who narrowly resists the temptation to drown him.
Mufasa and Sarabi exit the cave together as the animals celebrate their victory. The animals, in gratitude for Mufasa uniting them against the Outsiders, make him King of Milele. Mufasa is soon reunited with Afia, who tells him that Masego died in the previous flood. Mufasa confronts Taka about his betrayal and allows him to stay but refuses to refer to Taka by his name anymore; Taka renames himself “Scar”. Mufasa then ascends upon the newly formed Pride Rock and roars triumphantly, with Scar watching from behind.
Back in the present, Kiara roars at the skies as the spirit of her grandfather looms over her. She and her friends soon reunite with Simba to meet her newly born sibling, to whom Kiara offers to tell Mufasa's story.
In September 2020, it was announced that a follow-up film to the live-action-styled CGI photorealistic 2019 remake of The Lion King (1994) was in development, directed by Barry Jenkins. It is his fourth feature directorial role and first in blockbuster filmmaking. Reports indicated a story centered on Mufasa during his formative years, with additional scenes focusing on the events after the first film, comparing the structure to that of The Godfather Part II (1974). By this point, Jeff Nathanson, the previous installment's screenwriter, had completed a draft of the script. The film was officially announced, with the title of Mufasa: The Lion King at the 2022 D23 Expo.
On December 13, 2023, the Hollywood Handle reported that the plot would involve Rafiki telling the story of Mufasa to his granddaughter, Kiara, marking the character's first on-screen appearance in an animated feature film since The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), the direct-to-video sequel to the original animated film. Regarding any adaptation from Simba's Pride, Jenkins stated that "some stuff" from the canon is very much alluded and referenced, but it is not an adaptation.
In August 2021, Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. were cast as the voices of young Mufasa and Scar, respectively. During an interview with Fandango in April 2023 about his film Chevalier (2022), Harrison confirmed that the film would explore Scar's backstory, portraying him in a "hilarious and very, very spicy" way and expressing interest in how the young and sweet Scar's relationship with his brother Mufasa evolves throughout the film. Speaking with ComicBook.com in August 2024, Pierre described how his role as Terry Richmond and his work with Jeremy Saulnier in Rebel Ridge (2024) offered him, like most of his projects, the opportunity to internalize lessons from the work and characters so as to move forward with his role as Mufasa, saying that previous life experiences inform his future ones. By September 2022, it was revealed that Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani would reprise their roles as Pumbaa, Timon, and Rafiki, respectively.
In April 2024, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Donald Glover were confirmed to reprise their roles, with Blue Ivy Carter (in her feature film debut), Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Braelyn Rankins, Theo Somolu, Folake Olowofoyeku, Joanna Jones, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Abdul Salis, and Dominique Jennings announced as new additions to the cast. Jenkins considered casting Blue Ivy as Kiara since he heard the audiobook version she did for his friend Matthew A. Cherry's Hair Love (2019) short film, but had reservations on whether she and her mother would want to act opposite each other, fearing it may hit "too close to home". However, both Blue Ivy and Beyoncé were enthusiastic when he proposed the idea to them. Coupled with Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour, during which Blue Ivy danced to one of The Lion King: The Gift (2019) album's songs, Jenkins said there was synergy between mother and daughter with the film showcasing a type of "time capsule".
In September 2022, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, early footage was shown exclusively to attendees for the first time, thus revealing that production was already underway. Moving Picture Company returned to provide the visual effects. In July 2023, production on the film slowed down due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
By June 2022, Nicholas Britell was set to compose the score for the film, having previously collaborated with Jenkins on various projects. He was joined by Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams in September, returning from the 2019 film. In April 2024, it was announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda would write the songs for the film; Jenkins approached Miranda to work on the film due to keeping in touch since Jenkins almost cast Miranda in his film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). He started work on it in secret at the beginning of 2022. Mark Mancina was to co-produce the songs with Miranda, with Lebo M providing additional vocals and performances. In September 2024, Dave Metzger was announced to be composing the film's score, with Zimmer, Britell, and Williams said to have dropped out prior to production. While Metzger received sole credit for the score, Zimmer's themes from the previous films were reused in Metzger's score, such as "Under the Stars" and "King of Pride Rock". Zimmer is additionally credited for the track "And So It's Time". Additionally, four of Britell's themes for the film were included, all of which he composed with Lebo M.
During the 2022 D23 Expo, an exclusive preview for the film was shown to those who attended, which revealed that Mufasa was an orphaned cub. The preview also revealed that Rafiki and Timon would tell stories about Mufasa's past and his way to becoming king. Barry Jenkins also appeared when Walt Disney Studios presented its 2024 theatrical slate at CinemaCon on April 11, 2024, to promote the film, where he remarked: "You are probably wondering... what is the director of Moonlight doing talking to me about an eight-quadrant tentpole legacy IP massive film? [...] And I gotta say, the thought was very strange to me at first, as well. But oh my god. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, and I'm so glad I made this picture."
The first teaser trailer and the official teaser poster, featuring young Mufasa with his adult counterpart reflected in a puddle in front of him, debuted on April 29, 2024, on ABC's Good Morning America. The trailer's music track was bookended by a new instrumental rendition of "Circle of Life", confirming that some musical material by Elton John and Tim Rice from the previous film would be featured in the film in some way. The trailer received a mixed reception, with some deeming the film as "unnecessary" and a "soulless prequel to a soulless remake". Jenkins responded on Twitter writing, "There is nothing soulless about The Lion King ... For decades children have sat in theaters all over the world experiencing collective grief for the first time, engaging Shakespeare for the first time, across aisles in myriad languages. A most potent vessel for communal empathy."
The official full trailer for the film premiered during the Disney Entertainment Showcase at the 2024 D23 Expo on August 10, 2024, alongside a variant on the first poster with Taka and his future adult counterpart of Scar reflected in the puddle. The presentation also premiered "I Always Wanted a Brother", one of the songs Miranda wrote for the film. Miranda appeared in person at D23 for the first time with Jenkins to personally present the trailer.
The final trailer was unveiled at D23 Brazil on November 8, 2024, alongside a new poster featuring Mufasa, Taka, Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, Pumba, and Kiara. Earlier that day, Tiffany Boone and Kelvin Harrison Jr. appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the film and share a sneak-peek of the trailer.
Mufasa: The Lion King's world premiere took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on December 9, 2024, and was released in the United States on December 20, 2024. It was previously scheduled for release on July 5, 2024, but was delayed to its current date due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
Mufasa: The Lion King was released for digital download on February 18, 2025, was released on Disney+ on March 26, 2025, and was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on April 1.
The film debuted at No. 3 on the UK's Official Film Chart for the week ending February 26. Mufasa: The Lion King later moved one spot to No. 4 on the UK's Official Film Chart for the week ending March 5. The movie climbed from No. 4 to No. 2 on Fandango at Home's digital sales chart for the week ending March 16.
Analytics company Samba TV, which gathers viewership data from certain smart TVs and content providers, reported that Mufasa: The Lion King debuted with 880,000 U.S. households streaming the film within its first five days on Disney+. Hispanic households over-indexed by 25% in viewership. By comparison, the film's Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) release on February 18, across digital retail platforms was rented by 217,000 U.S. households in its first five days.
As of April 2, 2025, Mufasa: The Lion King has grossed $254.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $466.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $721.1 million.
In the United States and Canada, Mufasa: The Lion King was released alongside Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and was originally projected to gross around $50 million from 4,100 theaters in its opening weekend. After making $13.3 million on its first day (including $3.3 million from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were lowered to $36–38 million. It went on to debut to $35.4 million, finishing second behind Sonic the Hedgehog 3. In its second weekend, the film retained second place, grossing $36.8 million. In its third weekend, it replaced Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at first position at the domestic box office, crossing the $150 million mark. In its fifth weekend, the film outperformed newcomers Wolf Man and One of Them Days to finish first at the box office over the four-day MLK weekend. The New York Times attributed the movie's long-term box office success to less competition from other theater releases and the social media popularity of the movie's songs.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film made £4.4 million (US$6 million) in its opening weekend. In India, the film has made more than ₹130 crore (US$15 million) within 2 weeks of its release.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 215 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Barry Jenkins' deft hand and Lin-Manuel Miranda's music go some way towards squaring the Circle of Life in Mufasa, but this fitfully soulful story is ill-served by its impersonal, photorealistic animation style." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 85% positive score.
Several publications said the film's animation was an improvement over the 2019 Lion King remake. Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3+1⁄2 stars out of four, writing it is a "technological step up" from the remake, in which it finds "new ways to make the creatures expressive and emotionally available to us while also somehow convincing us that they are indeed animals, whose every talon, whisker, and hair seems as real as imagery in a nature documentary." Maureen Lee Lenker for Entertainment Weekly wrote the animation was "more compelling than the stagnant energy of Favreau's The Lion King, but at times, it feels almost frenzied, as if Jenkins is desperate to prove he can do something interesting with the material." In a five-star review, The Times's Kevin Maher praised the film's ending as "a special effects extravaganza that's thankfully free from the incoherence that dogged Jon Favreau's Lion King remake in 2019. Jenkins instead keeps everything focused on the drama, the pain of broken fraternal bonds, and families destroyed and rebuilt." However, Bilge Ebiri of Vulture said Mufasa: The Lion King "looks impressive on a technical level, but it makes even less of an impression than its 2019 predecessor. Yes, it will surely make truckloads of money. Artistically speaking, it feels like an enormous wasted opportunity, especially given the talent involved." in The A.V. Club, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky called the film an improvement over the 2019 remake, though noted that "making Mufasa and Scar something other than blood relations is a retcon, though it at least explains why they have different accents."
The film's screenplay received mixed reviews. Peter Debruge of Variety criticized Timon and Pumbaa's comedic interruptions, writing they make "strangely self-aware cracks about corporate lawyers, script notes and a certain hit song they assume everyone's sick of by now"; overall, he said the narrative approach was "like a mistake, serving mostly to delay and interrupt the main attraction, which is Mufasa's origin story". Entertainment Weekly called Jeff Nathanson's script "lackluster" and said the film tried too hard to "over-explain Simba's world. Not everything needs a backstory, a lesson that Disney could use right about now." Lovia Gyarke of The Hollywood Reporter said the film's pacing "becomes choppier and less coherent. Part of that can be attributed to an overstuffed narrative. Nathanson plumps the story with platitudes and moments that could lead to, well, more franchising."
Lin-Manuel Miranda's songs received mixed reviews. David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote there's "nothing near as earworm-level as 'Hakuna Matata' or majestically overwhelming" as Elton John's original songs, but that Miranda's compositions served "more like he's bending over backwards to complement those earlier karaoke staples". Similarly, Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times wrote "it's hard to call any one song a showstopper. They aren't built for bombast, and none are as in-the-moment earwormy as 'Hakuna Matata'..." Lenker said the songs were "a lackluster outing from the songsmith, with no memorable tracks to speak of". James Berardinelli of ReelViews critiqued the "songs are uniformly forgettable, although that could in part be because the numbers in The Lion King are so memorable. Perhaps Lin-Manuel Miranda was tasked with a thankless job." However, The Times praised the songs, writing Miranda delivered what is "easily his finest film work since the first Moana".
Filmmaker Robert Eggers cited the movie as one of his favorite films of 2024, saying "It was truly moving to see what Barry Jenkins' singular voice brought to this massive event film."