During last night’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw, The New Day cut a promo on their way to the ring where Xavier Woods mentioned that alongside the trio hosting WrestleMania 33 and a gaming event at SXSW, they are also sharpening their voice acting skills to hopefully land roles playing the hyenas in director Jon Favreau’s live-action remake of The Lion King. Xavier also went a step further, noting that they are serious about wanting the roles.
Now, not to say that definitively it would work, but there is a strong chance it could considering that their wrestling act is built on the camaraderie and dynamic chemistry the athletes share both in the ring and on the microphone. It’s a crazy enough idea that actually might be brilliant. Their interactions together on WWE television actually capture a silliness that could easily translate to those wacky hyenas.
The Lion King is being scripted by regular Steven Spielberg collaborator Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). So far, it stars the recently cast Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones as Mufasa. It is currently without a release date, but Favreau intends on shooting it back-to-back with The Jungle Book 2.
Originally published February 21, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
