Beyoncé is back with new music and a new visual treat for her fans. At least this time, she’s given her fans a little bit of time to get excited as she just dropped a teaser trailer on her website for the Disney+ experience she’s calling “Black Is King.”
Inspired by her involvement with “The Lion King” film — she was the voice of adult Nala — this new project is a follow-up to her 2019 release “The Lion King: The Gift” and is based on the music from that project, only now expanded with visual elements.
“‘Black Is King’ is a celebratory memoir for the world on the Black experience,” Disney and Beyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment said in a joint statement received by Variety.
The one-minute teaser is a visual tour de force, filled with powerful Black imagery, symbolism, family, love and just stunning costuming, location work and everything. It is 60 seconds of beautiful.
“The film is a story for the ages that informs and rebuilds the present. A reunion of cultures and shared generational beliefs. A story of how the people left most broken have an extraordinary gift and a purposeful future.
While it is based on “The Lion King” and features the music from her album reflecting that project, this is not another remake of that film’s story.
It does, however, share some of the same themes as it chronicles the journey of a young king “through betrayal, love and self-identity” as he seeks to reclaim and be worthy of his own throne and kingdom.
True to her recent efforts, this is all Beyoncé at every aspect of the July 31 releasing film. Written, directed and produced by Queen Bey, “Black Is King” also features the artists on “The Lion King: The Gift,” along with a few surprise guests.
That means the Beyhive can jam with their queen and the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Childish Gambino and so many more from Western and African culture — not to mention, of course, her own family members Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter.
According to several reports online and on social media, the announcement was initially a leak, meaning it’s totally possible Beyoncé was hoping to drop this as a complete surprise on July 31, just as she did with “Black Parade” on Juneteenth.
Fans hoping to bide their time for a free 7-day trial of Disney+ might want to rethink that as the company recently stopped offering these in the week lead-up to the highly-anticipated release of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” on July 3.
Suddenly a one-month paid sign-up isn’t looking so bad, though, for anyone who hasn’t tried it out yet. Kick it off with “Hamilton,” wrap it up with Beyoncé and spend the rest of the month seeing how far that $6.99 got you. We hear there’s an adorable “Baby Yoda” lurking around on there somewhere.
