Best known to a generation as a beloved Disney cartoon, The Jungle Book began life as a Rudyard Kipling book, and is in the process of being adapted for film once again; as both Disney and Warner Bros. are currently racing to get their own live-action versions o the classic tale to the big screen.
With Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) directing for Disney, and already entering the casting stage, Warners’ movie is currently lagging behind, but may soon pick up speed as the studio have just hired a new director for the film; none other than Gollum himself, Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis.
While Serkis has never attempted a project of this scale before, he’s no stranger to helping out behind the camera; not only has his experience as a motion-capture performer been invaluable to the success of Middle Earth, but he’s breathed life into both King Kong and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Caesar, he’s developed a number of projects under his own production label The Imaginarium, and was even placed in charge of the second unit for for The Hobbit trilogy (in fact in was Serkis who was largely responsible for the impressive barrel sequence in The Desolation of Smaug); so it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. would put their faith in him.
Serkis should also feel right at home given the amount of motion-capture work that will be needed to breathe life into a live-action take on Rudyard’s classic tales; with a script that reportedly returns to the darker origins of the story; following the young orphan Mowgli as he journey’s through the jungle and comes into contact with a number of memorable animals including Bagheera the panther, Baloo the bear, Kaa the snake, and Shere Khan the tiger.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
