Black Is King

Black Is King is an upcoming 2020 television film and visual album directed and executively produced by American singer Beyoncé. The film serves as a visual companion to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift, a tie-in album curated by Beyoncé for the The Lion King (2019 film)|2019 remake of The Lion King. The film is set to premiere and release digitally worldwide on Disney+ on July 31, 2020.
==Background==
On 19 July, 2019, The Lion King (2019 film)|The Lion King (a Photorealism|photorealistic Computer animation|computer-animated remake of Disney's Traditional animation|traditionally animated The Lion King|1994 film of the same name) was theatrically released in the United States. The same day, an accompanying soundtrack album titled The Lion King: The Gift was released by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. The Gift was curated and produced by Beyoncé, who described the album as "a love letter to Africa" and recounted her determination to find "the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds and [do] my interpretation of it".
Beyoncé explained that she believes The Gift "is the first soundtrack where it becomes visual in your mind". Beyoncé added, "I wanted to put everyone on their own journey to link the storyline. Each song was written to reflect the film’s storytelling that gives the listener a chance to imagine their own imagery, while listening to a new contemporary interpretation."
==Production==
Beyoncé called the film "my passion project that I have been filming, researching and editing day and night for the past year".
The film contains multiple chapters representing different localities, such as Nigeria and Ghana, with cast and crew of that nationality recruited to contribute and filming taking place in those countries.
=== Development ===
On June 10, 2020, it was reported that Beyoncé was securing a $100 million deal to work on three films for Disney, with a source telling The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun "Beyoncé has become a major player for Disney and is the perfect fit for their brand".
Black Is King was intended to be a companion piece to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift. Beyoncé explained that the film was created to "celebrate the breadth and beauty of Black ancestry" and "to present elements of Black history and African tradition, with a modern twist and a universal message, and what it truly means to find your self-identity and build a legacy."
To research for the film, Beyoncé described how she "spent a lot of time exploring and absorbing the lessons of past generations and the rich history of different African customs". The trailer shows Beyoncé reading from the 1971 book "Black Gods and Kings", written by American art-historian Robert Farris Thompson to record the art history of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. 
The film was written by Beyoncé, with poet Yrsa Daley-Ward and writer Clover Hope contributing to the script.
=== Pre-production ===
The cast and crew for Black Is King were recruited to "represent diversity and connectivity". Those recruited to direct segments of the film include Ghanaian filmmakers and visual artists Blitz the Ambassador and Emmanuel Adjei, Nigerian-British artist and director Jenn Nkiru, and South African visual artist Trevor Stuurman, who said that he is "honoured, blessed, and truly humbled to be a part of this moment in history". Academy Awards|Academy Award winner Hannah Beachler was recruited as one of the production designers.
The artists featured in The Gift (such as Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Salatiel and Wizkid) were recruited for the film, as well as special guests such as Blue Ivy, Jay-Z and Kelly Rowland. The cast also features South African actors Nandi Madida and Warren Masemola, and Nigerian actor Papi Ojo, for whom Black Is King is his debut film performance.
Beyoncé borrowed some of her mother Tina Knowles|Tina Knowles-Lawson's art pieces for Black Is King, as revealed by Knowles-Lawson during a February 2020 interview with the Wall Street Journal.
=== Filming ===
Filming primarily took place in the latter half of 2019, in locations including Ghana, Nigeria and the United States.
=== Post-production ===
Post-production took place from December 2019 by Flawless Post. MeLo-X, Derek Dixie and James William Blades contributed to the Film score|score and sound design; MeLo-X described working on the film on Twitter, writing "Truly an amazing and eye opening journey. @Beyonce always pushes for greatness. This is nothing less".
==Music==
Black Is King is based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift. The songs "My Power", "Mood 4 Eva" and "Brown Skin Girl" have been confirmed to have videos within the film, which have all been described as "extravagances of elegance and soul."
==Marketing and release==
On the night of June 27, 2020, a teaser trailer for Black Is King was posted on Beyoncé's website, the first announcement of the film to the public. The trailer was then premiered on television a day later on June 28, to conclude the BET Awards 2020|BET Awards after Beyoncé's acceptance speech for the BET Humanitarian Award. It was then subsequently released across various social media platforms and websites by Beyoncé's entertainment company Parkwood Entertainment in association with The Walt Disney Company|Disney. The release of the trailer caused "Twitter [to go] bonkers", according to USA Today, and the trailer subsequently received praise from fans and critics alike for its imagery and symbolism.
Robert Iger, Executive Chairman of the Walt Disney company, said he was "honored to be working with Beyoncé [on] this" on Twitter.
Black Is King is scheduled to be released globally on July 31, 2020 on Disney+. This is soon after the one-year anniversary of the release of The Lion King (2019 film)|The Lion King The Lion King (2019 film)|(2019).
== References ==
Category:Beyoncé
Category:Disney+ original films
Category:2020 films
Category:Films directed by Beyoncé
Category:American films
Category:English-language films
Category:2020s musical films
Category:2020s musical drama films
Category:American musical films
Category:American musical drama films
Category:Films based on adaptations
Category:Films based on multiple works
Category:Films based on musicals
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