Andy Serkis’ jungle is becoming more crowded. Just yesterday, we reported that
Benedict Cumberbatch had signed on to star in the actor’s directorial debut, a take on Rudyard Kipling’s famous tale called
Jungle Book: Origins. There was a whole swathe of additional casting announcements today, with word that
Christian Bale, Naomie Harris, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Eddie Marsan and Rohan Chand have all joined what is now a ensemble laden with good performers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Serkis will also be acting in the film, playing Baloo the bear, the friendly ursine type who befriends the young human orphan Mowgli (Chand, a veteran of
Lone Survivor and set to be back on our screens in
The Hundred-Foot Journey next month).
As for everyone else? Bale is on as the fearsome yet protective panther Bagheera, while Blanchett will have carte blanche to be slinky and hypnotic voicing the dangerous snake Kaa, with Hollander as Shere Khan (Cumberbatch)’s jackal henchman Tabaqui. Mullan is Akela, the leader of the wolf pack that raises Mowgli, Harris will be female wolf Nisha and Marsan will be Vihaan, her mate.
With a script from Callie Kloves – daughter of
Harry Potter regular screenwriter Steve, who is an executive producer here for Warner Bros. – Serkis will be shooting soon utilising a mixture of live-action, performance capture and CG animation to bring the story to life. Serkis’ version of
The Jungle Book is set for October 21, 2016, which places it a year after
Jon Favreau’s Disney-driven new live-action/CG blend version, due October 6 next year.
