Confused as to what exactly a live-action Jungle Book movie is going to look like? Now we know.
Anything I should be looking out for in this trailer?
If you’re a fan of the original, you probably spotted the fight between Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) and Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), a less cuddly looking Baloo (Bill Murray), one scary looking King Louie (Christopher Walken), and of course, Scarlett Johansson’s best impression of Cobra Commander.
Is this a world worth exploring?
Despite being a mostly unnecessary remake, I think it has the potential to be. The 60s Disney animated film (which this live-action version is a remake of) only loosely adapts a few of the stories from the original anthology book by Rudyard Kipling. Some of those stories don’t even involve Mowgli.
If Disney was so inclined, there’s a lot of The Jungle Book that they haven’t explored yet, and definitely some room for a few original stories of their own set in that world (albeit hopefully a little more thought out than the direct-to-video sequel they released in 2003).
So any early plans for a sequel?
Not yet (as far as we know), but it’s certainly on the table.
Interestingly though, if Disney doesn’t develop this setting into an ongoing narrative, another studio might. Warner Bros. will release their own adaptation, Jungle Book: Origins (no joke), in 2017. WB’s version is directed by Andy Serkis, along with Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Serkis himself as Baloo. Yeah, WB isn’t half assing it.
When is the Disney one out?
Disney will beat WB by over a year, releasing their Jungle Book movie on April 15, 2016.
