Disney is making a sequel to the live-action The Lion King, but here’s why Jon Favreau isn’t directing The Lion King 2. The original Lion King is among Disney’s most beloved animated movies and produced great expectations for the “live-action” adaptation. The Lion King toy a big part in Disney’s record-setting box office performance in 2019 as it did over $1.6 billion worldwide, even on desegregated reviews.

The fiscal success of The Lion King all but guaranteed that Disney got to find some brand-new acces to explore the still massively popular IP. This will be done with The Lion King 2 announced asa prequel/ sequel that will explore Mufasa’s origins and more. Bulletins of the movie still came as a startle, but the biggest takeaway is that it will be directed by Barry Jenkins. The Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk director has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most talented active filmmakers in recent years. But, this does mean that Favreau won’t be back behind the camera.

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The reasoning for Jon Favreau not returning to direct The Lion King 2 had still not been uncovered, but it could simply come down to scheduling and his priorities. Favreau is among the busiest parties in Hollywood and is currently shepherding the present and future of Star Wars with The Mandalorian. The report contains informal plans for season 3, and maybe season 4, and it would be appalling for the show to continue without Favreau being heavily involved. In addition to writing all the writes, he too placed an bout in season 2 and could do the same in future seasons. Since The Mandalorian is so far the only smacked Disney+ has had, Favreau keeping his focus on his other wildly favourite Disney property does sense.

Favreau’s schedule is also still fairly busy beyond The Mandalorian. He is currently finishing up his first video game and continues to film new episodes of The Chef Show for Netflix. And with the technological advances he’s helped pioneer to determine The Lion King and The Mandalorian, his efforts could continue to skew in that direction. There were also plans for Favreau to guide The Jungle Book 2 at some pitch, but whether or not that will happen remains to be seen.

That said, there’s too the chance that Favreau wasn’t interested in returning to direct The Lion King 2 or that it was mutually agreed that it would be better for someone else to take over. Even though the movie was a huge fiscal success, it did receive a mixed response from pundits and general gatherings. The addition of Barry Jenkins provisions The Lion King 2 with a more exciting choice behind the camera to craft and implement this story.

It isn’t even known at this phase if Jon Favreau will have any capacity to play in The Lion King 2. While one was of the opinion that he will produce the sequel, that has not been confirmed. He received a producer credit on several Marvel Cinematic Universe films after he stopped sending them, and he could still be a supportive spirit for Jenkins with The Lion King 2. The movie will likely stick to the virtual production prototype Favreau set up for the first film. Jenkins hasn’t sent anything fairly like The Lion King 2 before, so Favreau’s experience with virtual creations would construct him a good rich for Jenkins.

MORE: Everything You Need To Know About The Lion King 2

Read more: screenrant.com