With Disney seemingly running out of animated classics it wants to adapt to live-action, there are no plans to let that gravy train end it seems. In other words, plenty of sequels and spin-offs.
This has been done before but Disney has had little success with it thus far – resulting in sequels like 2018’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and 2019’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” that disappointed at the box office after high-grossing predecessors.
They’re trying again though. 2019’s photorealistic animated adaptation of “The Lion King” from director Jon Favreau, which grossed more than $1.6 billion at the global box office, has led to the prequel “Mufasa: The Lion King” on the way from celebrated filmmaker Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”).
Now in an interview with The New York Times this week, Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey indicates their plans don’t stop there – in fact, a larger “Lion King” universe is in the works with plans to expand it into a “big, epic saga” akin to “Star Wars”. He adds that “there’s a lot of room to run if we can find the stories”.
How exactly that will pan out – ie. more films, a TV series, etc. – is anyone’s guess right now, and Bailey wasn’t forthcoming on any further specific details.
The interview comes as Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” is in cinemas and has generated $326 million at the global box office. A new “Snow White” is on the way, as are live-action versions of “Lilo & Stitch” and “Moana”.
