Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuaron is reportedly lending a helping hand to director Andy Serkis’ upcoming Jungle Book movie. The film, which was being developed at the same time as Walt Disney Pictures‘ now playing Jungle Book film, was formerly planned for release under the title Jungle Book: Origins. Now, the project is moving forward as just Jungle Book. According to Deadline, Alfonso Cuaron will give notes on the project, which isn’t slated to hit theaters until October 19, 2018.
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic stories, Jungle Book marks the feature film directorial debut of Serkis, who will also play Baloo. The WB Jungle Book also stars Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Rohan Chand in live-action roles with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jack Reynor and Tom Hollander all set for performance capture parts.
Jungle Book is written by Callie Kloves with Serkis directing and co-producing with Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves. Interesting enough, today’s report suggests that production on the film has already been completed. Quite a lot could theoretically still change between now and the film’s release, however, given what is sure to be a long, VFX-heavy post-production process.
It’s not entirely a surprise that WB would turn to Alfonso Cuaron given both the filmmaker’s relationship with the studio as well as Cuaron’s expertise with visual effects. In addition to Alfonso Cuaron’s Oscar-winning work on the studio’s Gravity, Cuaron famously breathed new life into Warner Bros. Pictures’ Harry Potter franchise with 2004’s Prisoner of Azkaban. Andy Serkis fans need not fret about Alfonso Cuaron taking over the project, either. The original article stresses that Cuaron’s involvement will be uncredited and is only being done to make sure that the studio is able to deliver as good a Jungle Book adaptation as they can.
