Mufasa Director Barry Jenkins Responds To Online Criticisms

The first trailer for the upcoming follow-up to Jon Favrau’s 2019 Live-Action Remake of The Lion King was recently released on YouTube. The film, titled Mufasa, serves as a sequel/prequel and tells the story of Simba’s father, Mufasa. Over the past couple of days, the trailer has gained over 6 million views but has been poorly received as the trailer currently has 222K dislikes to 104 Likes.

Much of the criticism stems from the continued pushback of Disney’s conveyor belt of remakes over the past couple of years, with their 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid becoming the most downvoted Hollywood film trailer in history. Criticism over the film allegedly changing the lore and backstory of certain characters has also been brought up.

Now, Mufasa director Barry Jenkins (Known for directing the 2016 film Moonlight) has taken to social media and responded to some trailer critics. After reposting the video on his personal account, a user replied with, “Barry, you’re too good and talented for this Iger’s soulless machine.” He then replied with:

There is nothing soulless about The Lion King. For decades children have sat in theaters all over the world experiencing collective grief for the first time, engaging Shakespeare for the first time, across aisles in myriad languages. A most potent vessel for communal empathy.

— Barry Jenkins (@BarryJenkins) April 29, 2024

Multiple users would respond to his reply, stating that while the original 1994 film was amazing, they see the remakes as soulless.

You're correct. There's nothing soulless about the ORIGINAL 'The Lion King'. These "live action" remakes are another story

— Daniel Doughty (@danghty) April 29, 2024

The original Lion King is a classic. But that's the old WDC, not the current company that hasn't put out a good movie in 5 years. It is a soulless company of sub-par remakes and sequels.

— Fallout Dave (@Fallout5Dave) May 2, 2024

If it's about the animated The Lion King, you would be right. But you'd be fooling yourself if you said the live-action remake isn't soulless.

— Eu-Gene (@teoeugene) May 1, 2024

You sold out. There's nothing wrong with taking a paycheck but at least be honest about it.

— Dan Town (@DanTown22) April 29, 2024

There's nothing soulless about the ORIGINAL Lion King, this CGI crapshoot on the other hand…

Barry Jenkins, be serious

— Average Duck (@Necronauta_) April 29, 2024

Whatever the case, Disney’s track record of remakes has taken a nosedive in both reception and box office returns. In recent years, a number of them were released exclusively on Disney+, and so they made no financial returns. Aside from The Little Mermaid, the remakes of Pinocchio and Peter Pan were massively disliked by audiences and quickly forgotten.

While no budget for the film is currently public, the previous film had an estimated $250 million before advertising. We can assume this film will have similar numbers. But with interest drying up, it might not make the $1.6 billion the last one made.

What do you think? Will Mufasa be a good follow-up to the 2019 remake of The Lion King? Will it perform well at the box office? Or will it fall off a cliff like the actual Mufasa? Let us know.

Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter