‘Jungle Book Origins’ Will Mark Andy Serkis' Debut as Big-Screen Film Director

Warner Bros. Pictures Jungle Book: Origins has been scheduled for release on October 6, 2017. Now in pre-production, the studio's live-action film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's 1894 classic collection of stories and fables mostly focused on the orphaned boy Mowgli who was raised in the jungle by a pack of wolves, is set to be directed by Andy Serkis based on a screenplay written by Callie Kloves.

Jungle Book: Origins stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the sinister Bengal tiger Shere Kahn, Christian Bale as the black panther Bagheera, Cate Blanchet as the Indian python Kaa, Andy Serkis as the bear Baloo, Jack Raynor as Brother Wolf, Naomie Harris as the female wolf Nisha, Eddie Marsan as her mate wolf Vihaan, Peter Mullan Akela the leader of the wolf pack which raised Mowgli, Tom Hollander as the jackal Tabaqui, Rohand Chand as the young jungle boy Mowgli, and Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Bhoot, along with Robin Berry who will be voicing for the other characters in the story.

Kipling's classic stories for children have been adapted in other media, including comic books, cartoon and anime TV series, stage plays, radio shows and full-length feature films.

As originally scheduled, Warner Bros. Pictures Jungle Book: Origins was set for an October 2016 release but will now come out the following year in October 2017.

Rival studio, Walt Disney Pictures, also has its own movie adaptation of Kipling's book. A live-action and CGI animation hybrid titled Jungle Book, Walt Disney's 3D big-screen version is scheduled for showing in cinemas beginning April 15, 2016. Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Justin Marks, the film's live-action cast is led by Neel Sethi as the jungle boy Mowgli. The voice cast for the CGI scenes includes Bill Murray as Baloo, Idris Elba as Shere Kahn, Ben Kingley as Bagheera, Christopher Walken as monkey king Louie, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa and Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha.