The billion-dollar collection of 2019’s Mufasa The Lion King was a landmark success in Disney’s franchise. This year’s CinemaCon has been no less than a blast. Walt Disney Pictures partnered with Pastel Productions and brought the greatest king of the Pride Lands to Las Vegas on Thursday.

The first look for Disney’s upcoming installment in the Lion King franchise, titled ‘Mufasa: The Lion King,’ premiered at CinemaCon and made the whole environment energetic. The teaser trailer is filled with amazing visuals and tones and earned applause from the audience sitting at the annual convention for movie theater owners. To learn more about the ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ trailer, release date, cast, and plot, keep reading.

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ trailer at CinemaCon

A captivating new trailer for the upcoming prequel, ‘Mufasa: The Lion King,’ premiered at CinemaCon. Barry Jenkins went on stage to reveal the exclusive footage. Interestingly, the forthcoming movie features a younger version of Mufasa, Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa. The film was announced way before September 2022; however, its production was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strikes in 2023.

THR reported that Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins praised the upcoming movie on stage. Jenkins revealed,

Audiences can expect so many things in this film — an epic story and a comedy with plenty of familiar faces. There are some absolutely hilarious moments and some with extreme gravitas.

He also told the audience that the movie has many new songs. Jenkins said

They’re handcuffing me, so I can’t tell you who made those songs, but I promise you the songs are absolutely amazing,

Cast of ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’

It has been five years since we last saw Pride Lands’ king on screen. The 2019 movie The Lion King included an amazing team for voicing the characters. They included stars such as James Earl Jones, Donald Glover, and Beyoncé, which allowed the audience to see the depth of the roles.

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ will discuss how Mufasa became the inspiring king that many admire. The voice actors for the upcoming movie are listed below.

• Aaron Pierre as Mufasa
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Scar
• Seth Rogen as Pumbaa
• Billy Eichner as Timon
• John Kani as Rafiki

Plot of ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’

As mentioned previously, the story will be a prequel that discusses Mufasa’s journey to becoming an admirable king. The story starts with the African savannah and shows a young Mufasa. Rafiki could be heard describing him as

a lion who was born without a drop of nobility in its blood… a lion who would change our lives forever… a lion who will shape our destiny.

In the movie, Rafiki will tell the story of Mufasa as a king to Simba and Nala’s daughter, Kiara.

The logline states:

Simba, having become king of the Pride Lands, is determined for his cub to follow in his paw prints while the origins of his late father Mufasa are explored.

Release date of ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’

The highly anticipated movie, directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson, urstoryiq.com will arrive in theaters on December 20, 2024. Further details about the movie’s storyline have not yet been revealed. It will be intriguing to watch Pierre voice the younger Mufasa. Nevertheless, James Earl Jones has left his imprint forever as the voice of Mufasa, which will be hard to live up to.

See also : Dwayne Johnson Introduces ‘Moana 2’ Footage At CinemaCon

Moana 2: Just when we thought this year’s CinemaCon could not be any grander, The Rock appeared on stage. Dwayne Johnson provided a sneak peek into Disney’s Moana’s sequel, Moana 2.

On April 11, at the event held in Las Vegas, the voice behind the demigod Maui entered the list of Disney’s cast for its highly anticipated titles. The 51-year-old actor and wrestler entered the stage with a constant grin on his face.

The Rock said that the Moana franchise has been a completely new and life-changing experience for him. He also promised the audience that all the songs in Moana 2 would be new. The film will be released in November of this year.

The members of The National Association of Theatre Owners awarded Johnson a Spirit of the Industry Prize. After that, he presented the first-look footage for Moana 2.

Auli’i Cravalho will also reprise her role as Moana, the daughter of the chief of a Polynesian village. In the exclusive footage, Cravalho can be heard singing a pleasant song when Moana returns to her island. However, it seems like a new adventure is waiting for the strong-willed titular character.

Dwayne Johnson, who enjoyed himself during the mini-performance from Polynesian dancers, said that he is emotionally invested in the franchise. He stated that the character represents his roots and his culture.

Dwayne Johnson performs as a part of a Polynesian dance while presenting #Moana2 at #CinemaCon pic.twitter.com/s8EHi7lieR

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 11, 2024

The Rock said,

It’s so much deeper than a movie to me and I know it’s deeper for Disney, too,

The first installment of the franchise was a box-office success. urstoryiq.com Ron Clements and John Musker directed the movie, which received two Oscar nominations. The film was a strong contender for best animated feature and was also nominated in the best original song category for “How Far I’ll Go.” Moana 2

Interestingly, another live-action film of the same name is under production at Disney. It stars Dwayne Johnson and has been postponed for release. The movie was slated to release on June 27, 2025, but it has been pushed to July 10, 2026.

See also : Transformers One: Exclusive 3D Footage Shared At CinemaCon

Paramount Pictures announced last year at CinemaCon that it would cast Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Brian Tyree Henry in Transformers One.

Notably, it is the first animated Transformers movie in nearly four decades. During the presentations on Thursday night, a new extended trailer for the highly anticipated film was shared. Moreover, the studio has also revealed a logo.

The first look began after a pre-recorded message from Marvel’s beloved Black Widow. Currently, Transformers One Johansson is in New York, where she is directing her first movie, Eleanor the Great. Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry appeared on stage and introduced the first look and extended trailer in 3D for the highly anticipated movie.

The trailer will be officially dropped on April 18, 2024.

Hemsworth expressed his happiness on stage, saying,

I am so excited to play a young Optimus Prime and reveal a side of this character that audiences haven’t seen before.

He also acknowledged the opportunity he has received to share the voice behind Optimus Prime with Peter Cullen.

This upcoming animated movie will revolve around the younger versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Transformers One Its official logline states,

The long-awaited origin story of how the most iconic characters in the Transformers Universe, Orion Pax and D-16, went from brothers-in-arms to become sworn enemies, Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Chris Hemsworth will give the voice to Orion Pax, urstoryiq.com whereas Brian Tyree Henry will voice D-16. Furthermore, Scarlett Johansson will voice Elita-1.

It had been a year since Paramount had last shared anything about the cast or the movie’s release date. This left the fans wondering about the progress in production. Nonetheless, the Hollywood strikes also played their part in increasing the Transformers One among viewers.

Now,Transformers One Paramount has tweeted about the movie’s release window. An X post from April 11 stated,

Every hero has an origin. #TransformersOne arrives in theatres this September. pic.twitter.com/12mt6em1Z2

— Transformers (@transformers) April 11, 2024

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