Beyoncé is reportedly the favourite to play Nala in Disney's 'Lion King' remake

There’s understandable disquiet about the upcoming remake of The Lion King, a film that roughly 97% of millennials regard as their childhood number one. 

We’ve come to accept that Disney seems set on giving all of its animated classics the CGI treatment – and let’s be honest The Jungle Book was pretty good – but there’s added pressure with this one; if we’re going to have to put ourselves through Mufasa’s savage death again then it had better be worth it. 

Luckily, the movie is in the very capable hands of Jon Favreau, who has so far received the all-important internet thumbs up for casting Donald Glover as Simba, as well as bringing James Earl Jones back to voice the young lion’s daddy, just like he did in the seminal 1994 original. 

One still-vacant role is that of Nala, Simba’s childhood BFF and eventual lover. According to Variety, Favreau wants Beyoncé – yep, that Beyoncé – to take the part.

 Insiders told the US-based website that Queen Bey is yet to make a decision on the matter – she’s currently pregnant with twins – but the studio is reportedly willing to do all it can to make it fit with her schedule. 

She’s one of the biggest artists in the world, but Beyoncé flexes her acting chops less regularly than she dominates the charts. Her last screen role came in 2013 animation Epic (we didn’t see it either), and she made her theatrical film debut way back in the early ‘00s, playing sidekick Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember. We try not to talk about that film, though. 

If the Grammy Award-winner was to sign up to The Lion King it would be a massive coup for Disney, given her popularity, and who wouldn’t want to see her take on this little number?