Barry Jenkins‘ has found two of the leads for his upcoming The Lion King prequel.
Deadline has learned that Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. have been added to the voice cast for the Disney live-action film, which will “explore the mythology of the iconic characters” as well as Mufasa’s origins. Pierre will play Mufasa, while Harrison Jr. will play Taka, aka Scar. Additional casting has yet to be announced.
In other news, Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass have been tapped to star in Mel Eslyn‘s new sci-fi film Biosphere, Variety reports. Described as a “mysterious movie,” the forthcoming feature will be Eslyn’s directorial feature debut. Plot details are currently being kept under wraps.
Finally — ICYMI, Showtime has ordered a pilot for The Wood, a comedy series based on Rick Famuyiwa‘s 1999 cult-classic film of the same name, Deadline reports. Famuyiwa will direct the pilot and executive produce with The Chi showrunner Justin Hillian, who also will write the script. As you may recall, the original film followed two separate timelines in the three friends’ lives. It starred Taye Diggs, Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones as adults and Sean Nelson, Duane Finley and Trent Cameron as the teen version of the same characters. Meanwhile, the forthcoming The Wood series is described as “an honest look at friendship and dating from the perspective of three young Black males born and raised in the gentrifying L.A. suburb of Inglewood.” Casting details have not been announced.
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