Blue Ivy Carter will be joining her mother, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, in the movie musical “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which is expected in theaters in December.
The movie — a prequel to “The Lion King,” the 2019 hyperrealistic remake of the Disney classic starring Beyoncé as the voice of Nala — will be directed by Barry Jenkins, who won a best adapted screenplay Oscar for “Moonlight.”
Blue Ivy, 12, will make her feature film debut by voicing Kiara, the daughter of Nala and Simba, who will again be voiced by Donald Glover. (Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Mads Mikkelsen and Thandiwe Newton will also lend their talents.)
“A buddy of mine, Matthew Cherry, made the short film called ‘Hair Love’ that Blue Ivy did the audiobook of,” Jenkins told Entertainment Weekly in an article published on Monday. “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?’” he said. “But once we put the question to them, they both responded with enthusiasm.”
Representatives for Beyoncé did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last year, Blue Ivy joined Beyoncé onstage during the Renaissance tour, which wrapped up in October; she already has a Grammy, for best music video for “Brown Skin Girl,” a single by her mother. Beyoncé holds the record for most Grammys in history, with 32 wins.
“The Lion King,” which was directed by Jon Favreau, was a box-office smash, earning $192 million at theaters in the United States and Canada in its first weekend. It ultimately made more than $1.5 billion in ticket sales globally.