Two of the more unexpected hirings in recent times has been that of celebrated “The Rider” and “Nomadland” director Chloe Zhao for Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” film, and Oscar-winning “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins for a planned “The Lion King” prequel film at Disney Pictures.
It turns out both are connected beyond merely coming from the Mouse House. In a recent interview with Variety, Jenkins revealed that it was a combination of the script and of Zhao’s arrangement with Disney that convinced him he should take on the work.
Jeff Nathanson, the writer of the Jon Favreau-directed 2019 live-action take on “The Lion King,” returned to pen the prequel and Jenkins has nothing but praise for his work:
“I read the script and about forty pages in, I turned to Lulu [Wang] and I said, ‘Holy s–t, this is good.’ And as I kept reading, I got further away from the side of my brain that said, ‘Oh, a filmmaker like you doesn’t make a film like this,’ and allowed myself to get to the place where these characters, this story, is amazing.
What really pushed me across the line was James [Laxton], my DP, said, ‘You know what? There’s something really interesting in this mode of filmmaking that we haven’t done and that not many people have done.’ That was when I went back to the powers that be and said, ‘I would love to do this, but I’ve got to be able to do what I do.’ And they said yes!
Knowing that Chloe Zhao had gone from one of the most beautiful films of the century with ‘The Rider,’ to making a Marvel movie, I was like, ‘Oh, s–t. If she can do it, I can do it'”
The plan is to further explore the mythology of the characters and include Mufasa’s origin story, but also move the story forward.
Intriguingly the interview also revealed that it wasn’t Marvel that approached Zhao about working on “Eternals,” but rather the other way around saying she grew up with manga which heavily inspired her more than movies did in her youth.
Zhao says: “I have been a fan of the MCU for the last decade. So, I put the word out there I wanted to make a Marvel movie and the right project came to me. I just wanted to work with that team… [world-building] is my favorite thing…can I put a spin on it while still being true to the essence of it? That’s exciting to me.”
