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Disney’s Live-Action ‘Lion King’ Taps Jeff Nathanson As Writer

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran scribe Jeff Nathanson has been tapped to pen the screenplay for

, Disney’s re-imagining of the iconic animated pic that Jon Favreau has recently came aboard to direct following the blockbuster success helming

. The live-action film is being fast-tracked to production, though no dates have been disclosed.

Jon Favreau To Direct Disney's 'The Lion King'; Feature Reimagining On Fast-Track

Nathanson, whose writing credits include Steven Spielberg’s

, now joins the push to update and reinvent Disney’s classics for a contemporary audience. The latest, 

, a CGI/live-action marvel, has grossed $966.2M worldwide. Next in the pipeline is 

with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, set for March 17, 2017. In similar fashion to that film, the live-action

will include songs from the original animated pic.

was originally released in 1994 and is one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time with a lifetime global box office of $968.8M. To extend its might, its Broadway musical adaptation won six Tonys in 1997 and is still going strong, with 23 global productions having been seen by more than 85 million people.

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Is it really fair to refer to this as Live Action? Presumedly it will be entirely CGI animated.

OMG CONGRATS JEFF! :D One of the nicest guy’s ever people! Well deserved!!

Great! More old white dudes writing and directing stories set in Africa… brilliant idea! Great job Disney bringing in diversity behind the scenes again…. #Winning

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