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 to pan Simba, describing him as "irritatingly callow." Chris Hick of the "Deseret News" complained about the fact that Simba and the other "characters in "The Lion King" are not as warm and fuzzy as other Disney animated features," crediting this with making "the film a bit tougher to warm [up] to." ComingSoon.net strongly panned Simba as a lead character, writing, "typically for Disney animated fare, it's the hero who is the weak link being both blandly designed and blandly performed." Acknowledging the character's Shakespearean origins, "The Baltimore Sun"s Stephen Hunter gave Simba a negative review, writing, "Alas ...Simba stands