Jungle Book Origins: Warner Bros. Gets Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Andy Serkis to Direct

Jungle Book Origins: Warner Bros. Gets Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Andy Serkis to Direct

Cumberbabes, as Benedict Cumberbatch adoring fans call themselves are definitely rejoicing with the official announcement of Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Shere Khan in the live action re-imagining Jungle Book: Origins from Warner Bros.

Cumberbatch will be working again with Andy Serkis as director this time, whom he previously worked in Peter Jackson's trilogy The Hobbit; with Serkis as Gollum and Cumberbatch as the terrorizing dragon Smaug. The film will mark Serkis' first feature directorial effort, but has been the second unit director for two of The Hobbit movies.

The film's script is written by Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves and his daughter Callie Kloves. Serkis discloses that the script is "quite a dark take" from the original material.

Aside from Warner Bros., Disney is also set for its own live-action adaptation titled The Jungle Book with Idris Elba as Shere Khan and directed by Jon Favreau, which means there will be two Jungle Book movies.

Shere Khan, the ominous tiger originally appeared from English author Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories as the main antagonist to Mowgli - a child that was adopted and raised by a group of Indian wolves, a black panther and a bear.

First published in 1894 in magazines and became popular with its collection of stories using animals to teach moral lessons. It later inspired a string of adaptations such as, Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book, its 2003 sequel, television series Tale Spin and Jungle Cubs and a 1994 live-action film.

Disney's movie opens Oct. 9, 2015, while Warner's version opens Oct. 21, 2016.

It's going to be a great battle of voices. Who's your pick, Benedict Cumberbatch or Idris Elba?

 

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