Disney has officially confirmed they will be doing a live action remake of The Lion King.

The news follows the success of The Jungle Book, which was directed by Jon Favreau and took $956.8 million dollars at box offices worldwide.

The Lion King remake will also be directed by Favreau. The original Disney movie was released in 1994 and is one of the biggest animated films of all time.

In a statement today, Disney said: "We can officially confirm that The Walt Disney Studios and director Jon Favreau are putting a new reimagining of The Lion King on the fast track to production.

"The Lion King builds on Disney’s success of reimagining its classics for a contemporary audience with films like Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book."

The Lion King won Academy Awards for the original song Can You Feel the Love Tonight sung by Elton John, with lyrics by Tim Rice and original score Hans Zimmer. It also won two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling over 14 million copies.

In 1997, the stage production The Lion King made its Broadway debut, winning six Tony Awards and 19 years later, it remains one of Broadway’s biggest hits alongside several other productions running around the world.

It has been translated into eight different languages and more than 85 million people across every continent, except Antarctica, have seen it.

No date for the live action remake has been confirmed.

Disney and Favreau are also in development on a sequel to The Jungle Book.