The Jungle Book (2016 film)

The Jungle Book is an upcoming American live-action/CGI adventure fantasy film directed by Jon Favreau, written by Justin Marks, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film's executive producers are Molly Allen, Karen Gilchrist, Peter M. Tobyanse. Music will be written by John Debney.

The film will be released in 3D and open on April 15, 2016. Filming began on August 5, 2014.

Synopsis
Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), based on Rudyard Kipling's timeless stories and inspired by Disney's classic animated film, The Jungle Book is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who's been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he's ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don't exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.

Live-action roles

 * Neel Sethi as Mowgli
 * Ritesh Rajan as Mowgli's Father

Motion capture voice performances

 * Bill Murray as Baloo
 * Ben Kingsley as Bagheera
 * Idris Elba as Shere Khan
 * Scarlett Johansson as Kaa
 * Christopher Walken as King Louie
 * Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha
 * Giancarlo Esposito as Akela
 * Emjay Anthony as Grey Brother
 * Jamie Dornan as Colonel Hathi
 * Hannah Tointon as Winifred
 * Sara Arrington as a

Production
On July 9, 2013, the film was announced, with Justin Marks set to write the film.

On November 5, 2013, it was announced Jon Favreau would direct the film.

On March 6, 2014, it was announced Idris Elba would voice Shere Khan. .

On April 23, 2014 it was announced Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong'o would voice Kaa and Raksha, respectively.

On June 25, 2014, it was announced Ben Kingsley would voice Bagheera.

On July 15, 2014, it was announced Neel Sethi would play Mowgli.

On July 28, 2014, it was announced Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Esposito would voice King Louie and Akela, respectively.

On August 1, 2014, it was announced Bill Murray would voice Baloo.

Richard M. Sherman who, alongside his late brother Robert B. Sherman wrote songs for Disney's original animated Jungle Book is going to write new songs for this film, and "The Bare Necessities" is going to be recycled from the original and sung by Bill Murray.

On January 13, 2015, the film's release date was pushed back from October 15, 2015, to April 15, 2016.

On September 18, 2015, Disney released the first teaser trailer for The Jungle Book. A special extended version of this trailer was presented before 3D showings of The Force Awakens.

Trivia

 * Because Orangutans are not native to India, this iteration of King Louie will be a  instead (an extinct species of ape).
 * Kaa will be a female instead of male: this is the second time that a Disney character has been depicted as the opposite gender from their original Disney depiction, the first being Jaq from Cinderella (not counting Rafiki's and Terk's film and Broadway versions).
 * This is the fourth of many live-action remakes of classic Disney animated films released during the 21st century, the others being Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella and the upcoming movies Alice Through the Looking Glass also in 2016 and Beauty and the Beast in 2017.
 * This is Disney's third live-action film adapted from The Jungle Book. The other two were Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.