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Walt Disney Studios have confirmed a 'reimagining' of The Lion King which will be directed by Jon Favreau and follow the success of The Jungle Book, which took $965.8 million worldwide and only opened in April.

According to the release: "The Lion King builds on Disney’s success of reimagining its classics for a contemporary audience with films like Maleficent, Cinderella, and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast."

Emma Watson stars as Belle in the latter and is already one of the most anticipated movies of 2017.

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(Image: Disney)

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Like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King will include songs from the animated film.

Disney and Favreau are also in development on a sequel to The Jungle Book.

No release dates have been announced for either film just yet.

The Lion King was originally released in 1994 and is one of the biggest animated films of all time and grossed $968.8 million at the box office.

(Image: Disney)

The Lion King (1994) won Academy Awards for the original song Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Elton John, Tim Rice) and original score (Hans Zimmer), plus two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14 million copies.

In 1997, the stage production The Lion King made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards.

In 2015 a television sequel to The Lion King, Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, was confirmed.

James Earl Jones signed up to reprise the role of Mufasa, while Ernie Sabella voiced Pumbaa.