Filmmaker Barry Jenkins, the mastermind behind critically acclaimed pieces of work like Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, is returning to the big screens. This time, he has another presumed masterpiece prepared for fans, which is also the prequel to the live-action The Lion King from 2019: Mufasa: The Lion King. That being said, he has quite a bit to talk about the upcoming movie.
But of all the factors that have contributed to the making of this soon-to-be-released adventure musical, Jenkins is incredibly grateful to one Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor who was the genius brains behind the songs for his movie. This actor is none other than the 44-year-old songwriter cum actor renowned for masterpieces like 2020’s Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Barry Jenkins is Grateful to Lin-Manuel Miranda for Mufasa‘s Music
Before directing Mufasa: The Lion King, director Barry Jenkins was very cautious with helming musicals. However, for this live-action musical prequel to its live-action counterpart masterpiece from 2019, he knew how he wanted to seamlessly blend the storytelling part with the music part.
During a recent interview with Empire regarding this very upcoming presumed epic piece of work of his, the filmmaker openly expressed his about these exact plans. He said:
“We wanted to really find a balance of symbiosis between the music and the film.”
Helping him effortlessly carry out the musical part of this plan was none other than the genius brains Lin-Manuel Miranda, the actor cum songwriter who played Melissa Fumero‘s Amy Santiago’s brother David Santiago in the superhit sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
As Jenkins talked about Miranda’s work in the interview with Empire:
“Lin really leaned in and tried to find the places that myself and Jeff Nathanson, the writer of the script, had tried to go deeper into the background of some of these characters in this film.”
In fact, the songwriter’s work was so incredibly amazing that the filmmaker couldn’t help but be all praise for him afterward. As he said in the same interview while talking about Lin-Manuel Miranda:
“He did a really, really wonderful job, and he and I already had something of a rapport.”
Needless to say, Jenkins seems to be head over heels for the contribution that Miranda has made to his soon-to-be-released live-action movie. But what’s more, is that the Hamilton actor isn’t the only one the director is so impressed by: Blue Ivy Carter has also joined the league.
Barry Jenkins is All Praise for Blue Ivy Carter As Well
As it turns out, the mastermind Miranda isn’t the only gem that Jenkins can’t stop singing songs of praise for. This is because the filmmaker is also incredibly taken aback by Blue Ivy Carter, the daughter of none other than Hollywood’s very own favorite Beyoncé.
Talking about the time when he first got to witness Carter’s vocal talents through Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love, the filmmaker said:
“She did an absolutely amazing job,” Jenkins raved. “She just felt like this really curious young person.”
That said, Jenkins spent no time to bring Blue Ivy Carter overboard, too, to voice Simba and Nala’s child in the movie, after casting Queen Bey to voice Nala, creating a whole new environment for the two as they got to “share this part of their relationship as these characters.”
Well, from all we’ve heard about this upcoming piece of work from Jenkins so far is making it all the harder to wait for the film’s release to finally catch all of this breathtaking talent on the big screen.
Nonetheless, Mufasa: The Lion King hits the theatres on the 20th of December, 2024.
