The Lion King same name, with Jon Favreau directing. The following month, Jeff Nathanson was hired to write the script for the film. Favreau originally planned shoot it back to back with the sequel to "The Jungle Book". However, it was reported in early 2017 that the latter film was put on hold in order for Favreau to instead focus mainly on "The Lion King". In February 2017, Favreau announced that Donald Glover had been cast as Simba and that James Earl Jones would be reprising the role of Mufasa. The following month, it was reported that was Favreau's top choice to voice
Simba film. Directed by Julie Taymor, with a book by Irene Mecchi and Roger Allers, "The Lion King "premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 13, 1997, where it ran for nine years until being moved to the Minskoff Theatre on June 13, 2006. The role of Simba was originated by Scott Irby-Ranniar and Jason Raize, with Irby-Ranniar portraying Young Simba and Raize portraying Adult Simba. Raize auditioned for the role of Adult Simba after hearing that Taymor was looking to cast an actor who was of "unidentifiable ethnicity." Raize revealed in an interview that there was a lot of