Blue Ivy Carter held her own as a dancer on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, and she must have really enjoyed working with her mom — who wouldn’t when your mom is Beyoncé? — because the two are joining forces again for the Barry Jenkins-directed Mufasa: The Lion King.
The 90-second trailer released on Monday morning, April 29, featuring Beyoncé voicing Nala and 12-year-old Blue Ivy is voicing a brand-new character, Kiara, Nala and Simba’s daughter. According to the YouTube description, the prequel movie centers on Rafiki “to relay the legend of Mufasa” to Kiara, “with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick.” Donald Glover reprises his voiceover role of Simba, and Aaron Pierre voices Mufasa.
“A buddy of mine, Matthew Cherry, made the short film called Hair Love that Blue Ivy did the audio book of,” Jenkins told Entertainment Weekly. “Starting this project and just having that in the ether, I was like, ‘Is it worth a shot? Would Blue Ivy want to do it? Would Beyoncé want to act opposite her daughter? Is it too close to home?’ But once we put the question to them, they both responded with enthusiasm.”
Jenkins added, “What’s crazy is we made the film, and then the Renaissance tour happened, and I think Blue really grew up over the course of that tour. So the Blue Ivy you see in this film, it’s like a time capsule, this very, very, very young stage of her life, and she got to share it with her mom. So, I thought there was some synergy. It could be beautiful.”
Watch the Mufasa: The Lion King trailer above.
