A Tale of Two Jungle Books
by EG
Next week, Disney will release a live-action/CGI-animated remake of its 1967 animated film The Jungle Book. This version is not the first remake of the original film, and it won't be the last. Warner Bros. has its own Jungle Book film in the works, and this week the studio announced that it's moving the release of its version far away from Disney's.
Disney's new version of The Jungle Book is being directed by Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. The film stars newcomer Neel Sethi, as Mowgli the jungle boy, and its CGI-animated taking animals will be voiced by actors including Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Idris Elba and Scarlett Johansson.
Warner's Jungle Book: Origins is being directed by Andy Serkis and will star Rohand Chan as Mowgli. Serkis, who is known for his CGI motion-capture performances, will play Mowgli's bear friend Baloo. Other CGI-animated animals will be voiced by a cast of actors that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett.
Jungle Book: Origins was originally slated for release in October of 2017, but Warner decided to move it back by a year to October 2018. The studio didn't explain its motivation for the move, but Serkis expressed gratitude at having extra time to work on the film. It won't hurt, either, to give audiences an extra year to forget that they've just seen another version of the same story.