The Lion King (Live-Action)

[Nick]

The problem is Disney doesn't want to waste time and effort on films that perform like a normal movie. If it's not a megaBlockbuster, Disney isn't interested.

Fox searchlight runs on small budgets though so the profit margins tend to be large, especially for their films that hit it big.

 

[Magic-Man]

 

[Viator]

Early word has come out from the premiere.

 

[Viator]

The embargo has lifted..and as of right now, RT has the film at 59%

 

[Parkscope Joe]

 

[Nick]

Wow, gotta say I’m really surprised at that since I’ve heard mostly only great reviews thus far.

 

[Trumen882]

Yeah pretty shocked at the score. I have no personal interest in seeing this movie, but I was expecting a >70%.

 

[TheGentTrent]

Everything I've seen so far has given me BatB vibes in that this will mostly be a shot-for-shot remake, so I'm not terribly surprised by the reviews. It doesn't help that Favreau said that James Earls Jones' lines will be mostly unchanged either.

 

[HereWeGo]

I mean, if Aladdin is any indication, I don't think the GA care about what the critics have to say about these films. They're going to see it no matter what.

 

[Nick]

I mean, if Aladdin is any indication, I don't think the GA care about what the critics have to say about these films. They're going to see it no matter what.

Yeah, unless the reviews get REALLY bad, it won’t affect anything. I suspect this could hit a $150M opening weekend and expect it to be a billion dollar movie.

The trick with these Disney remakes is that they’re just good enough so that the nostalgia factor does its job and gets butts in seats. There’s about 3 generations of people that love movies like LK and Aladdin enough to want to see a live action version no matter what.

 

[ChristopherSE]

I don’t think the photorealism is going over very well. General consensus that it’s incredibly impressive, but lacking creative inspiration or charm. At least that’s what I’m seeing on a lot of my socials. And from the clip of Hakuna Matata, that was very much my first thoughts.

That said, the music in the clip was really great. I anticipate people will talk about the visuals and the music, and then the rest will be ... fine.

 

[rageofthegods]

I heard the songs were gutted though, which would be a disaster. Be Prepared is apparently much shorter and less impressive than the original, as is Just Can't Wait to be King. IDK, Grace Randolph, who usually aligns with the GA on these things, was very mixed on this movie, and she's my go-to bellwhether reviewer on these live action Disney movies, so who knows.

Disney's not a perpetual motion machine. Aladdin could've been a trend, or a fluke. But no one expects people to desert a property or series until the moment they do.

 

[WAJAS]

Those animals showed no emotion in the Hakuna Matata clip. The voices seem very disembodied, and it isn’t even clear that all their mouthed are moving.

I normally eat these up, but it’s not happening for this one.

 

[Nick]

I also think Beyoncé is almost too good and too recognizable of a voice for a movie like this.

 

[Trumen882]

I also think Beyoncé is almost too good and too recognizable of a voice for a movie like this.

Yeah the clip I saw of her as Nala did't really fit for me. Also her singing in "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" is very pretty but kind of overwrought compared to what the other voice actors are giving haha. She's doing all kinds of runs and vocal transitions where Donald is just straight singing it. It's kind of weirdly comical how much on different pages all 4 voice actors are. This was less of a problem in the original

 

[Nick]

Yeah the clip I saw of her as Nala did't really fit for me. Also her singing in "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" is very pretty but kind of overwrought compared to what the other voice actors are giving haha. She's doing all kinds of runs and vocal transitions where Donald is just straight singing it. It's kind of weirdly comical how much on different pages all 4 voice actors are. This was less of a problem in the original

Yeah, the Can You Feel The Love Tonight clip is what prompted this thought on my end.

 

[Tobias]

So, there's some leaked footage out there of the "Long Live the King" moment. Not gonna' post any links for obvious reasons, but I do wanna' say this...

In the original, that is probably one of the most dramatic parts of the film. It hit's hard.
Now for the CGI version? Well for this one, the line delivery is nowhere near as good, it's actually shockingly dull. There's no sinister edge whatsoever to the line. But that's nothing compared to what happens next...

Definite spoilers below on this scene...

Spoiler

Scar doesn't throw Mufasa off the cliff, instead he literally baps Mufasa's nose and he falls. I'm not kidding, it's literally death by nose boop. An James Earl Jones's scream is literally something out of a Star Wars edit done by George Lucas. An that's followed by a ridiculous dolly shot from Simba who's looks more like he's yawning than screaming because they gotta' make it look like real lions than ones that can really emote.

 

[Nick]

Movie is projected for a $175-$210M opening, with box office mojo projecting $190M.

 

[hhnlover]

 

[Nick]