2. Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, And More Join Andy Serkis' Jungle Book: Origins
Jon Favreau is hard at work on bringing an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's seminal story The Jungle Book to the big screen for Disney, and has picked up several beloved thespians for key roles, including Idris Elba, Scarlet Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong'o and Christopher Walken. With all of the attention payed to Favreau's film, it's been easy to forget that it's only one of two adaptations on the way. Warner Brothers is also prepping their own film, from motion-capture king Andy Serkis. Serkis' film, Jungle Book: Origins, will be his directorial debut (though he's done a substantial amount of assistant directing for Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films), and has just garnered quite the cast of its own. This week, several major films were cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch as the villainous tiger Shere Khan (making it the second Khan the actor has played!), Christian Bale as the panther Bagheera, Cate Blacnchett as the hypnotic python Kaa, Naomie Harris as the wolf Nisha, Eddie Marsan as Nisha's mate Vihaan, Rohan Chand as Mowgli, Peter Mullan as the wolf leader Akela, and Serkis himself as the beloved bear Baloo.
James is a 24 year old writer and filmmaker living in Portland, OR. He attended college for graphic design and writes for various sources on the web about film, television, and entertainment.
You can view all of his work on his website, www.thereeljames.wordpress.com
