Iconic singer/songwriter Elton John will collaborate with Beyonce for a brand new song for next year’s live-action adaptation of 1994’s The Lion King. Starring Donald Glover as Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar and James Earl Jones reprising his good dad role as Mufasa, the contemporary retelling will be helmed by Jon Favreau after doing such a brilliant job in 2016’s The Jungle Book.

Soundtracks for Disney’s classics have been equally important as the narrative themselves. But among the slew of great songs from their animated films, The Lion King has arguably one of the most iconic track lists. While Hans Zimmer (who will also be back) was behind the movie’s score, it was John and lyricist Tim Rice’s songs that stood the test of time and are still fan-favorites to this date. So learning that the English pop icon is teaming with Rice and Beyonce for a new original song for Favreau’s take on the narrative is obviously very exciting for everyone.

In a recent conversation with The Sun UK, John confirmed that he will be recording a new track for the 2019 live-action adaptation of The Lion King. With the help of Rice and Beyonce, the song will be the film’s “new end credits song.” The report also notes that the “Halo” singer, who will also voice Nala in the said project, has previously reached out to John’s people regarding the collaboration. The Rocket Man reveals:

Obviously, “Circle of Life” will still be the film’s main opening theme and John said that he was treated for a sneak peek, describing it as “amazing.” We presume that the footage that the singer/songwriter saw was parts of the footage that Favreau debuted in last year’s D23 Expo, which wowed the crowd. But despite being an adaptation, chances are that the director will be taking creative liberties that would differentiate his take from the 1994 animated classic to make sure that the movie doesn’t feel outdated, similar to what he did in The Jungle Book.

“There’s going to be four of our songs in the film, from the original: Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Hakuna Matata, I Just Can’t Wait To Be King and Circle of Life. And then there will be an end, closing song, and we’ve been speaking to Beyonce’s people and hopefully Tim and I and her can cook up something. That’s going out in 2019 as well. And it will be great to work with her. So we will see.”

With most of original soundtrack team back together, backed with the talent and star power of Beyonce, there is a good likelihood that 2019’s The Lion King OST will be getting award season love (on top of the obvious visual effects category). The original film took home The Academy Awards’ Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (competing against the film’s own songs: “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata”) and Best Original Score for Zimmer. The Grammys also awarded it Best Musical Album for Children and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists for Zimmer and Lebo Morake’s “Circle of Life.”

MORE: Why The Lion King Was An ‘Experiment’, According To Its Director

Source: The Sun UK

  • The Lion King Release Date: 2019-07-19