National Geographic announced today that Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, Dune, Inception, The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rain Man, Man of Steel) has teamed up with Bleeding Fingers Music’s Niccolò Pacella & George Hutson Warren to score the new National Geographic original documentary series Lion. The Nairobi Chamber Chorus has provided additional vocals and Lebo M (The Lion King) & Andrew Christie (Prehistorical Planet, The Americas) have written the theme, alongside Zimmer, for the show, which is narrated by O.J. Lynch and chronicles the remarkable four-year journey of a tiny lion cub named Kio as he becomes a king. Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Elf) who has previously collaborated with Zimmer on 2019’s The Lion King remake is executive producing the project with BBC Studios Natural History Unit’s creative director Mike Gunton (Planet Earth II, Dynasties). Lion will premiere on August 19 on National Geographic and the following day on Disney+ and Hulu. A soundtrack album featuring the composers’ music will be released on August 21 by Hollywood Records.
Zimmer also has Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three (to be released in theaters nationwide on December 18, 2026) coming up.
