DUBAI: British-Moroccan model and influencer Mariah Idrissi walked the red carpet at the European premiere of “The Lion King” in London on Sunday, and took to Instagram to share her excitement.
The model wore a simple white, button-down dress and a black turban — her signature hijab style. She took to social media to share photographs from the premiere, including a snap of the star-studded cast on stage.
“Anyone who spends five minutes with me is witness to how much I love @disney lol. This movie is part of so many childhoods, so need I say more about going to see it when it’s out! Huge thank you to @asos and @disneystudiosukfor having me tonight (sic),” Idrissi captioned the trio of shots on Instagram.
Born and raised in London, Idrissi is of Moroccan-Pakistani descent and made headlines in 2015 when she became the first model to wear a hijab in a major international fashion campaign, starring in H&M’s “Close the Loop” adverts.
Since then, the 26-year-old has been at the forefront of the modest fashion movement, stylishly representing contemporary Muslim women and working with major retailers including MAC cosmetics and ASOS. She also featured in Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty campaign.
She was one of a number of influencers to attend the European premiere of the highly anticipated Disney flick and was joined on the red carpet by stars such as Beyonce and Jay-Z, as well as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
With a star-studded voice cast including Beyonce and estimated $250 million budget, Hollywood’s reigning hitmaker has spared no expense bringing arguably its most beloved source material roaring to photo-realistic life in “The Lion King,” the AFP reported.
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Expectations are sky-high for the film about young lion cub Simba avenging his father’s death to emulate the commercial success of “The Jungle Book” (2016), “Beauty and the Beast” (2017) and “Aladdin” (2019).
A trailer for the new “Lion King” was watched by 225 million people in its first 24 hours in November, shattering Disney’s record.
But while the film — set for release Friday — is being billed as the Mouse House’s latest “live-action” movie, it is in fact a different beast altogether.
With no human characters in sight, almost every shot — from the pixel-perfect hairs of Mufasa’s glistening mane to the eerily realistic hyena eyes piercing through the Elephant Graveyard gloom — was conjured from scratch using computer-generated imagery.
And yet “The Lion King” is not strictly a 3D animation either, in any conventional sense.
It is instead something totally new, said director Jon Favreau — a film shot by a traditional camera crew, but entirely inside a virtual reality 3D world.
Filmmakers and actors at the studio were able to don digital headsets and “step into” a video game-style African savannah to film — or simply watch — rough computer-generated versions of Simba and his pals cavorting through the Pride Lands.
“The crew would be able to put on the headsets, go in and scout and actually set cameras within VR,” Favreau told journalists in Beverly Hills this week.
