Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel The Jungle Book gets another film re-imagining, this time from director Andy Serkis, in what appears to be a more grounded, darker rendition of the tale.
Mowgli tells the story of the upbringing of the human child of the same name, who’s raised by a pack of wolves in the jungles of India.
Mowgli becomes accepted by all of the animals of the jungle as one of their own, bar one; the feared tiger Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Under the guide of a bear named Baloo (Andy Serkis) and a panther named Bagheera (Christian Bale), Mowgli must face all facets of danger lurking in the jungle, and beyond.
It’s a story that’s been told time and time again over the generations, and one that was recently released as a Disney feature film in 2016; The Jungle Book, which itself was a remake of Disney’s own 1967 animation.
You may be wondering why another Jungle Book movie is coming out so soon.
Both Mowgli and Disney’s The Jungle Book were in development at around the same time, and while you may be wondering what the point of having two similar movies come out only two years apart is, watching the trailer below for Serkis’ version of this story should be clear enough.
Mowgli certainly looks like it’s straying from the kid-friendly song-and-dance Jungle Book version we’ve come to know, basing it with an element of realism.
It sounds strange when you consider the film is full of talking animals, but it looks like Andy Serkis has hit the mark with the film’s particular style.
Alongside Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andy Serkis is an impressive ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett as Kaa, Naomie Harris as Nisha, Andy Serkis as Baloo, Matthew Rhys as Lockwood, Freida Pinto as Messua and Rohan Chand in the lead role as Mowgli.
Peter Mullan, Jack Reynor, Eddie Marsan and Tom Hollander round out the cast.
Check out the first trailer below, along with a cool behind-the-scenes video featurette with Andy Serkis.
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