Sir Elton John has branded Jon Favreau's hyper-real Lion King remake a "huge disappointment" as film bosses "messed the music up".

Advertisement

The legendary musician worked on the soundtrack and helped to adapt his songs from the 1994 original – Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata – but claims that he "wasn't really welcomed or treated with the same level of respect".

"Music was so much a part of the original and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact,” John told GQ. “The magic and joy were lost."

He also pointed to the diminished cultural impact that the soundtrack – curated by Beyoncé, who also starred as Nala – had on the world. The Lion King: The Gift peaked at 13 on the US Billboard Chart.

“The soundtrack hasn’t had nearly the same impact on the charts that it had 25 years ago, when it was the best-selling album of the year. The new soundtrack fell out of the charts so quickly, despite the massive box-office success,” he said.

More like this

"I wish I’d been invited to the party more, but the creative vision for the film and its music was different this time around and I wasn’t really welcomed or treated with the same level of respect. That makes me extremely sad.”

Advertisement

Don't tell Bey...

giphy (97)
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement