The new 'Lion King' looks gorgeous, but will it be good?

When the new computer animated version of The Lion King was announced it was hard not to be blown away by the cast that was assembled. (The new trailer for the film dropped today, and it looks to be truly epic).

Besides bringing back James Earl Jones in his iconic role of Mufasa, the voice actor cast includes Donald Glover, Beyonce, Seth Rogen, John Oliver and many other recognizable names that seem like ideal casting choices. Perhaps it was the critical and commercial success of director Jon Favereau's Jungle Book re-imagining (which also featured a dream cast that included Bill Murray and Idris Elba).

Surely, due to a wave of nostalgia and genuine good will (the original traditionally animated film became a phenomenon 25 years ago) this iteration will be a surefire blockbuster -- and who knows, that success could be well-deserved. But if the movie is simply just a cynical attempt to cash in on peoples' love for the original and nothing else.

It's one thing if the film hits the same major story beats -- Mufasa's death, Scar's betrayal, etc. -- and the return of all the key characters from original -- but is this new film going to feature all the same catchy songs for the 1994 original and should it?

Are audiences flocking to see this movie told the same way but in a different style or are they looking to see a different movie with the same spirit as the original. As a fan of more ambitious filmmaking I'm hoping its the former not the latter, but of course it'd be a safer bet that this film could essentially be a shot-for-shot re-telling of the first films, albeit with even more stunning imagery.

Disney has been doing this a lot lately -- they've already done Beauty & the Beast and later this year Aladdin will arrive re-imagined too (and it's hard to imagine Will Smith won't be bringing his own spin on the character that is far removed from Robin Williams' iconic take).

The Lion King, which has already inspired an acclaimed Broadway show, has arguably a bigger fanbase than either of those films, so its a no brainer that Disney would want to remake it, but will more original films suffer at its expense?

Besides being a great film, Us felt groundbreaking because it was a wholly original film and concept.

And yet on the other hand tried and true franchises -- from the Mission: Impossible films to Rocky/Creed to the Star Wars -- are flourishing and still doing interesting and surprising stuff, so who am I to complain?

Part of my frustration with the concept of yet another Ghostbusters reboot was that it didn't really need to exist for any reason. I'm not entirely sure this new Lion King does either -- but it just looks so damn good.

It's the paradox that Disney especially has put a lot of moviegoers in -- movies like this and the Marvel films feel like required viewing if you want to stay a part of the zeitgeist and if you want the potential of experiencing something potentially transcendent like Black Panther.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.