Disney seems confident that it has a hit on its hands with director Jon Favreau’s live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book (and they should do, as we loved it – read our review here), as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that plans are already underway for a sequel.
The site reports that Favreau will reteam with screenwriter Justin Marks on the sequel, which will dig deep into Rudyard Kipling’s other Mowgli tales for its source material.
The Jungle Book is the latest entry in Disney’s slate of live-action adaptations of its animated classics; it will be followed in May by the Alice in Wonderland sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass, while Pete’s Dragon follows in August.
Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.
The Jungle Book is set for release on April 15th 2016. Newcomer Neel Sethi stars as Mowgli, while the film also features the vocal talents of Bill Murray (St. Vincent) as Baloo, Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Kaa, Idris Elba (Luther) as Shere Khan, Lupita Nyongo’o (12 Years A Slave) as Raksha, Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) as Bagheera, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) as Akela and Christopher Walken (Jersey Boys) as King Louie.
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