Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis is to direct the forthcoming Warner Bros. version of The Jungle Book – which will feature live action rather than animated characters.
The Jungle Book is obviously a much-loved animated movie and classic children’s book that millions of fans can remember reading or watching as they grew up.
So when rumours came about that not only one but two live action versions were going to be made, the internet was set alight with who would be involved and who would direct.
It seems that there is a trend in Hollywood at the moment for two versions of the same films to be made either within a short time span or at similar times (Spiderman, the Steve Jobs biopics, Snow White, Superman etc). This is apparently no different.
Both Disney and Warner Bros. are set to make their own versions of The Jungle Book with the Disney version being directed by 2008’s Iron Man director, Jon Favreau and rising British star and DJ Idris Elba to voice Shere Khan.
Idris rose to fame in the UK TV show, Luther, gained a major role in the 2013 film, Pacific Rim, and the lead role in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which was also released the same year.
However for the Warner Bros. version, it has just been announced that Serkis, best known for his role as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy, will be the director. This project is said to be darker than its Disney counterpart.
This will be Serkis’ first time as a big budget director but comes as no surprise after the actor and CG motion capture specialist gained recognition for his second unit direction on Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, which included the famous barrel sequence in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Disney is set to release their version on October 9th 2015 whilst Warner Bros are yet to announce a date.
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