Andy Serkis has started work behind the camera on his first feature film as director with Warner Bros Pictures’ The Jungle Book (previously known as Jungle Book: Origins), based on Rudyard Kipling’s stories and adapted for the screen by Callie Kloves. The 3D production will be a live-action and performance capture mix, with Rohan Chand (The Hundred-Foot Journey) starring as Mowgli, the orphan boy raised by wolves.
The cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan the tiger, Cate Blanchett as Kaa the snake, Christian Bale as Bagheera the panther, Peter Mullan as Akela the wolf pack leader, Tom Hollander as Tabaqui the scavenging hyena, Naomie Harris as Nisha the female wolf, Eddie Marsan as Vihaan, and Jack Reynor as Mowgli’s Brother Wolf. Director Serkis will be pulling double duty as Baloo the bear.
Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves is on board as a producer. Nikki Penny and Jonathan Cavendish are executive producers. Warner Bros is aiming for an October 6, 2017 release.
The ‘The Jungle Book’ Plot:
The story follows the upbringing of the human child Mowgli, raised by a wolf pack in the jungles of India. As he learns the often harsh rules of the jungle, under the tutelage of a bear named Baloo and a panther named Bagheera, Mowgli becomes accepted by the animals of the jungle as one of their own. All but one: the fearsome tiger Shere Khan. But there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle, as Mowgli comes face to face with his human origins.
