Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner have been cast to play Timon and Pumbaa in ‘The Lion King’ remake.
Disney are rebooting the beloved 1994 animated movie with ‘Jungle Book’ filmmaker Jon Favreau helming the project and now it has been revealed that Rogen and Eichner are joining the cast which includes Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones, who will reprise his role as Mufasa.
Eichner, 38, will play the lively meerkat Timon and farty warthog Pumbaa will be voiced by Rogen. The two characters are pivotal in the story of lion cub Simba when he is estranged from his pride and they sing the iconic song ‘Hakuna Matata’.
Rogen, 35, has voiced animated characters in films including ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Sausage Party’ and Eichner is best known for starring on ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’.
In the 1994 animation Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella voiced the duo with Matthew Broderick playing Simba.
The movie is set for a July 2019 release and Favreau is already in pre-production with Jeff Nathanson writing the script.
It’s rumoured Beyonce is the preferred choice to play Nala in ‘The Lion King’.
As well as keeping Sir Elton John and Tim Rice’s original songs, which include ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’, ‘Be Prepared’ and ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’, the remake will also feature some new tunes.
‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ played out over the credits and went on to win Best Original Song at the 1995 Academy Awards.
Disney has released a string of remakes as of late including ‘Maleficent’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Back in February, Disney revealed the movie is on the "fast-track to production" and the studio announced other remakes will be produced including ‘Dumbo’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Mulan’.
Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner are Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa
