The Lion King could become a Star Wars-esque saga, according to Disney

The Lion King could become its own Star Wars-like franchise, says Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Pictures.

"The Lion King could expand into a big, epic saga, like the Star Wars franchise," Bailey told The New York Times. "There's a lot of room to run if we can find the stories."

The 'live-action' remake of the Disney classic hit theaters in 2019, and took in over $1.7 billion at the global box office. Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Jeff Nathanson, the film follows the plot of the original 1994 film and features a score from original composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice.

Following the film's success, Mufasa: The Lion King, a photorealistic prequel directed by Barry Jenkins is in the works, and is scheduled for a summer 2024 release. The movie will chronicle Mufasa's life as a young cub, and set up the origins of his ultimately fatal feud with Scar. If Disney can keep finding new stories to tell within The Lion King universe, who's to say it couldn't expand to see Mufasa and Scar go out like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader?

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.