The Hollywood Reporter says performance capture master Andy Serkis will be making his feature film directorial debut with Jungle Book, the one set up at Warner Bros and not the one coming together at Disney with Jon Favreau directing. Serkis, best known for tackling the roles of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and playing Caesar in the reboot of Planet of the Apes, has done second unit directing work with Peter Jackson but Jungle Book would mark his debut in the lead director’s chair.
The project initially had Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu attached, but scheduling issues made it impossible for him to take on the Jungle Book.
Meanwhile, Deadline’s reporting Omar Sy (The Intouchables) will be following up X Men: Days of Future Past with a role in the upcoming Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World. Sy will be joining a cast that includes Chris Pratt, Idris Elba, Jake Johnson, and Bryce Dallas Howard. Safety Not Guaranteed director Colin Trevorrow is directing, and Universal’s set a June 12, 2015 release date for the fourth film of the Jurassic Park series.
Sy tweeted the news, confirming his involvement in the big-budget action film:
“Fan of this saga from the beginning, I’m very proud to be part of the cast for JURASSIC WORLD #jurassicworld”
And director Trevorrow posted that he’s very pleased to welcome Omar Sy to Jurassic World.
