u/Fickle_Membership205

The Lion King Live Action Universe is maybe not going to be continued.

The Lion King IP itself is a diamond for disney, and it is very likely that we will get more from this world, but maybe not in the live action form. I personally think the chances are 50 50 that the live action universe will be continued.

Here are points that make me cautious even thow Mufasa was a box office hit:

Danielrpk recently mentioned on twitter that after Moana flop there is just going to be lilo stitch 2 and tangled and hercules and that would be it for a while

Disney is risk averse of big budgets after snowwhite and moana live action disasters

No indication we are getting any D23 lion king movie announcement

Several projects announced to be in early development at disney live action, but no lion king mentioned

Greenbaum, head of disney live action since 2024, coming from searchlight, reportedly favors human led movies (rumor)

He was employed by iger with the task: make movies qualitatively better. There might be no convincing enough story that would clear the current creative high bar at disney.

Lion king live action has a huge problem of not being able to carry a soulful story. The animation is too impersonal and needs significant changes and therefore creates economical and receptional uncertainty

The box office drop from lion king 2019 to mufasa is significant

Argument for it:

Disney has no live action IP that is more valuable than Lion king except lilo and stitch sequel(s), future Frozen live action and pirates of the Caribbean.

Mufasa finished at $723M and is currently the #2 Disney live-action/remake release after 2019, behind only Lilo & Stitch. Moana is projected to open to $130-140 Mio worldwide, making it unlikely to surpass Mufasa final box office

Jon Favreau directs "the lion" marketed by Disney as "rise of the king" and "the real lion king". Music composed by Hans Zimmer. You cannot get more live action lion king than that. Is anyone excited for this?

I would like to share with you what i know about the current situation of the lion king at Disney and initiate a discussion about the future of the franchise.

Lion king has been revived in 2019 and is since running under the disney live action department. Its leader has changed in February 2024 after 15 years of Sean bailey who was responsible for movies from alice in Wonderland to the little mermaid. He himself said in 2023 that lion king could be made into a star wars like saga if they find the right stories.

Because of concerns of decreasing film quality of disney live action movies bailey had to go and since 2024 david greenbaum is in power. When he got the job he reportedly said that he greenlights movies based on the question: does this movie need to exist.

There is limited info on what the new leadership thinks of the lion king live action. What we know is that according to scoopers greenbaum and his team at least considers continuing with a third lion king movie. We also know that he prefers human lead movies with controlled budgets (tangled, lilo and stitch, hercules, even according to one report pocahontas) Furthermore, aristocrats, Bambi and robin hood have all been cancelled under the new leadership according to other reports. All of them are animal lead movies.

Lion king however is a premium ip for disney and the leadership needs to present good reasons to put the lion king to rest. It is concerning to see that the lion king community itself doesnt particularly like the live action lion king. Not to mention the crazy shitstorm it always gets on social media like x. So what is disney leadership going to do with the franchise?

The hook of Lion king 2019 was clear: lion king, just in real. People have seen the realistic version, and move on. There is no cultural footprint of live action lion king. Even the new lion king project at disney land paris doesnt plan to include the live action universe. Mufasa used live action because the 2019 movie did $1,66B. Not because the audience asked for live action. What is the logical next step for the franchise? Comics?

I think a third live action can work if they further improve on facial expression and artistic freedom. How possible that is with the established live action pipelines and corporate interest is another question.

Internally writer appointed: 2026–2027 Public writer leak/report: late 2026–2028 Movie release: most likely late 2030–2032

If nothing emerges by end of 2028, we are either getting a lion king reboot in middle to late 2030s or a Disney plus lion king series

I am happy for any comment