The latest Jungle Book adaptation, Mowgli, will be coming a little later than expected.
In a surprise move, Netflix has acquired Andy Serkis’ Mowgli from its original distributor Warner Bros. to released both theatrically and on its streaming service sometime in 2019. Warner Bros. had initially planned to release adaptation on October 19 of this year before selling the film to Netflix for an undisclosed price.
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Serkis had promised a much darker version of Rudyard Kipling’s classic adventure novel The Jungle Book with the adaptation planned to be closer to story’s literary source material. While differentiating itself from Disney’s live-action remake in 2016, the Netflix version will feature no musical numbers but instead focus on the title character as he endures growing up among the animals of the Indian jungle.
The film features a blend of live-action and CGI with the upcoming adaptation’s all-star cast also performing motion capture as they voice different iconic characters from the iconic Kipling story.
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Directed by Andy Serkis, Mowgli stars Rohan Chand as the title character, with Christian Bale as Bagheera, Cate Blanchett as Kaa, Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Naomie Harris as Raksha, Freida Pinto as Messua, and Andy Serkis as Baloo. It is expected to have a limited theatrical release sometime in 2019 before moving to Netflix.
(via Variety)