10 Movie Remakes Nobody Wanted (That Were Actually Pretty Good)
3. The Jungle Book (2016)
Once again, Disney had a lot of work to do to justify their decision to remake classic films in live-action. Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent (2014), and Cinderella (2015) were all somewhat underwhelming, as critic reviews failed to agree with box office numbers. But then came The Jungle Book remake in 2016, which almost single-handedly changed the perception of Disney's live-action trend.
The Jungle Book remake follows the exact same plot as the original, as young boy Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. When a tiger named Shere Khan attempts to kill Mowgli, he is rescued by Baloo, a bear, and Bagheera, a panther.
Initially, many questioned how a live-action film of The Jungle Book could work. It would almost surely just be another form of animation and therefore barely differentiated from the classic 1967 original. Yet, director Jon Favreau completely blew everyone away with his incredible use of motion capture.
The animals in the film are so expertly detailed that it's hard to tell that they are not real. This alone justifies why The Jungle Book remake exists. It's not just a retelling of a classic tale, but a display of how far cinema has come.
The Jungle Book earned a mammoth $966 million at the worldwide box office, and has an impressive 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.