National Geographic has unveiled the official trailer for Lion which chronicles the four-year journey of a lion cub named Kio as he becomes a king.
Lion is executive produced by The Lion King director Jon Favreau and BBC Studios Natural History Unit’s Creative director Mike Gunton (Planet Earth II, Dynasties), with the score by composer Hans Zimmer, Niccolò Pacella and George Huston Warren for Bleeding Fingers Music.
The four-part event series debuts Thursday 20 August on National Geographic, airing in two weekly double bills at 8pm and 9pm. All four episodes stream from 20 August on Disney+.
With narration by O.J. Lynch (Mufasa, The Lion King stage production), Lion tells the story of the Maasai Mara’s lion kings and queens.
Four years in the making and filmed in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, the crew, including local Kenyan filmmakers, logged nearly 1,400 filming days across 52 shoots — the most time ever spent in the field exclusively following a single pride.
“After tracking the lions in the field for four years, the pride never ceased to surprise us — what Kio endures and eventually becomes is extraordinary. Watching the hero’s journey against the backdrop of nature was incredible to witness,” says Favreau.
Zimmer leads the score alongside Bleeding Fingers Music Group’s Niccolò Pacella and George Hutson Warren, with additional vocals from the Nairobi Chamber Chorus and theme co-composed by Lebo M. and Andrew Christie alongside Zimmer. Drawing on recordings captured in the Maasai Mara, including local singers, instruments and even lion roars, the music blends the scale of a cinematic adventure with the texture of the wild, while weaving in rerecorded musical nods to The Lion King. The original series soundtrack will be released through Hollywood Records on Aug. 21 and will be available wherever music is streamed.
In celebration of National Geographic’s Lion, Disney is continuing the Protect the Pride campaign, supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) and its partners working across Africa. The campaign shares the LRF’s vision to help double the number of lions in the wild by 2050. Since the launch of Protect the Pride in 2019, Disney has invested over $5 million in LRF, whose network has helped support more than 400 conservation projects across 26 countries focused on stabilizing and recovering lion populations through locally led solutions.
Lion is produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit for National Geographic. Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton executive produce the series. Jane Atkins is series producer, and Simon Blakeney is co-executive producer. For National Geographic, Janet Han Vissering and Tom McDonald executive produce.
Pippa Considine
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