Why You Can Trust CNET 'Mufasa: The Lion King' Prequel Unveiled at Disney's D23
There's also a trailer for Disenchanted and more details on Peter Pan and Wendy, Snow White and Haunted Mansion.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Disney announced new movies and revealed more details of upcoming films, with Mufasa: The Lion King and Peter Pan and Wendy headlining its Disney and Pixar Studios panel Friday afternoon at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.
Mufasa: The Lion King will tell the story of Simba's father, who was orphaned as a lion cub. The origin story will be told in two timeframes by Rafiki and Timon and Pumbaa, Disney said at D23.
Peter Pan and Wendy, previously announced but not in any detail, will treat the two characters as "equals," Disney said Friday. It stars Jude Law as Captain Hook.
"We got to mine their backstory a little more," Law said at D23, suggesting that Hook and Pan were once friends. He also suggested that he's playing "the good guy." The movie will stream in 2023 on Disney Plus.
Disney also revealed more details on its upcoming Haunted Mansion movie based on the iconic Disneyland ride, announcing that Jamie Lee Curtis will star as Madame Leota, who appears during the attraction as a head in a crystal ball.
The trailer for Disenchanted, the sequel to 2007's Enchanted starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden and Idina Menzel, also showed up Friday during the panel.
The live-action Snow White movie, which will star Gal Gadot in the role of the Evil Queen, will be out in 2024, Disney added.
D23 has so far seen Disney announce an expansion to Disneyland's Avenger's Campus, the latest Hocus Pocus 2 trailer, a teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid, Pixar's Inside Out 2, a new Disney animation called Iwájú and more.
