Barry Jenkins has responded to the claim that he’s “too good” to be directing Disney’s “soulless” movie Mufasa: The Lion King.

After making a name for himself with critically acclaimed films such as Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, the Oscar-winning writer/director was hired by Disney to helm a prequel of its 2019 Lion King remake.

The trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King was released this week, and some users took to X/Twitter to express their frustration with Jenkins’s next project.

“Barry, You’re too good and talented for this Iger’s soulless machine,” one wrote, referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger.

The filmmaker responded by defending the original 1994 Lion King, which is based on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

“There is nothing soulless about The Lion King,” Jenkins replied. “For decades children have sat in theaters all over the world experiencing collective grief for the first time, engaging Shakespeare for the first time, across aisles in myriad languages. A most potent vessel for communal empathy.”

Another commenter then claimed that he interviewed Jenkins at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016 for Moonlight and, “That Barry Jenkins wouldn’t have said what you just said.”

The director responded, “Bruh what kind of logic is that? How about this, here are a few videos from the ‘same Barry Jenkins who premiered Moonlight’ (as you put it) showing some of the things I was doing in my spare time AT THE SAME TIME I was writing Moonlight.”

Sharing videos of his work with children, he continued, “Children have figured prominently in every single one of the projects from Moonlight til’ now without exception. Like… BRUH. You can say whatever you want about the film but telling ME that something I SAID about why something is meaningful to me for children is CAP (a lie)? Nah bruh (sic).”

In an interview with Empire earlier this week, Jenkins explained why he made the jump from Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight to a major franchise.

“I read the script written by Jeff Nathanson and got about 40 pages into it and realised that my scepticism and cynicism had been obliterated,” he stated.

Mufasa: The Lion King will be released in cinemas on 20 December.

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