Beyonce has confirmed that she will voice Nala in the upcoming Lion King remake.
The news was met with all the restraint and reserve you’d expect from the chart queen’s dedicated following, the self-styled “beehive”.
The singer’s past acting credits include Diana Ross stand-in Deena Jones in Dreamgirls and Foxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers: Goldmember.
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Heading the cast is Community star Donald Glover, also known by his rap stage name Childish Gambino, who is to play the adult Simba.
The Daily Show host John Oliver will step into Rowan Atkinson’s shoes as meddlesome hornbill Zazu, while fellow comics Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen have been cast as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively.
The only original cast member from the 1994 animation is James Earl Jones, who will reprise his role as king Mufasa, opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor as the villainous would-be usurper Scar.
Many Twitter users applauded Disney’s decision to cast black actors in the majority of the leading roles, with African-American blog The Root calling it the “blackest Disney movie ever”.
However, some commentators were disappointed that the majority of the main cast are American or British, despite the African setting of the tale:
So far, two African actors have been cast - South African John Kani will play soothsaying baboon Rafiki, and German-Ugandan actress Florence Kasumba is to voice dim-witted hyena Shenzi.
While others saw a welcome political allegory in the film’s climax, which portrays the triumph of good over an evil dictator:
The film is being billed as “live-action” - meaning a lifelike CGI version of the tale similar to 2016’s The Jungle Book, rather than the likes of Beyonce and James Earl Jones actually running around in furry costumes.
The two movies will share a director - Jon Favreau - who has already started shooting The Lion King. A brief clip shown to an audience as Disney fan convention D23 “featured jaw-dropping photo-real shots”, said the Hollywood Reporter.
Visual effects supervisor Rob Legato, who also worked on The Jungle Book, said The Lion King would use even more advanced technology to bring the story to life.
"We are going to use a lot of virtual-reality tools,” he said. “The actors can now walk into a scene and see the other actors and trees … and because you are in 3D, you get a realistic sense.”