Last Week Tonight host John Oliver has joined the cast of Disney’s upcoming The Lion King live-action remake set to be helmed by Jon Favreau. Oliver will play Zazu, the fastidious red-billed hornbill first introduced in the 1994 animated Lion King film.
Zazu served as the primary advisor to the film’s central lion pride and was voiced by Rowan Atkinson in the original. The remake film will see Donald Glover and James Earl Jones take on the roles of Simba and Mufasa this time around, while Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen will play the comedic duo of Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog.
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In the 1994 film, Zazu worked closely with the lion pride headed by the pack’s leader, Mufasa. Zazu helped to raise and advise the Mufasa’s son, Simba, and when the pride leader was slain by his brother, Scar, Zazu held his position and served the usurper. Later, when Simba returned to reclaim the throne, Zazu was instrumental in subverting Scar’s plan and liberating the pride from his tyrannical rule.
The remake will reportedly see a live-action animated style close to Favreau’s other Disney remake project, the 2016 film The Jungle Book. The Lion King is set to debut in theaters in 2019.
(via The Tracking Board)