Mufasa: The Lion King director Barry Jenkins says that making all-digital movies is not for him.
Mufasa: The Lion King will be released in United States theaters later this month. Directed by Jenkins, the photo-realistically animated film is a prequel to 2019’s The Lion King
Speaking with Vulture, Jenkins hinted that Mufasa: The Lion King may be the last time he attempts all-digital filmmaking.
What did Barry Jenkins say about all-digital filmmaking?
“It is not my thing. It is not my thing,” he said. “I want to work the other way again, where I want to physically get everything there. I always believe that what is here is enough, and let me just figure out what is the chemistry to make alchemy? How can these people, this light, this environment, come together to create an image that is moving, that is beautiful, that creates a text that is deep enough, dense enough, rich enough to speak to someone?”
Prior to Mufasa: The Lion King, Jenkins made 2008’s Medicine for Melancholy, the Oscar-winning Moonlight in 2016, and 2018’s If Beale Street Could Talk.
“Exploring the unlikely rise of the beloved king of the Pride Lands, Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick,” the synopsis reads. “Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.”
Mufasa: The Lion King releases in United States theaters on December 20, 2024, from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.