Millions have viewed the heartwarming YouTube video of "Christian the Lion" reuniting in Africa with the two men who bought him from Harrods department store in London in 1969 and raised him for a year before reintroducing him in a Kenyan National Reserve.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures is looking to bring the story of Christian and the two men, John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke, to the big screen.

The studio is in the process of securing the life rights of Rendall and Bourke and their 1972 book "A Lion Called Christian."

One of the most viewed YouTube videos of the reunion features Whitney Houston belting out "I Will Always Love You" in the background to footage from a 1971 documentary about the two men seeing Christian a year after they sent him to Africa to be reintroduced into the wild.

Unsure whether Christian would recognize them after such a long time, the lion approaches the two men slowly at first, then rushes toward them and affectionately "hugs" them and rubs against them. (Tears flow shortly after by all who view the video.)