Watch it out of bear necessity.
Netflix have acquired one of the most anticipated films on the current calendar, Andy Serkis’ take on The Jungle Book story, Mowgli.
The streaming service has picked up the rights from Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The film was originally slated to be released on October 19 but you won’t need to head along to the cinema to see Serkis’ directorial debut.
Of course, this isn’t a new occurrence for Netflix after they recently acquired the rights to show Annihilation and The Cloverfield Paradox.
Mowgli’s development has been an interesting one that dates back to 2012. There have already been a number of directors attached to the project with Alejandro Inarritu and Ron Howard in talks for the project at one point or another.
Using a similar approach that Jon Favreau used on his recent Jungle Book adaptation – fusing CGI characters with real actors – Mowgli follows the upbringing of the human child that’s raised by a wolf pack in the jungles of India.
As he learns the often harsh rules of the jungle, under the tutelage of a bear named Baloo and a panther named Bagheera, Mowgli becomes accepted by the animals of the jungle as one of their own. All but one: the fearsome tiger Shere Khan.
Aside from this, there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle as Mowgli comes face to face with his human origins.
Mowgli sees Serkis playing Baloo, with other stars including Benedict Cumberbatch (Shere Khan), Cate Blanchett (Kaa), Christian Bale (Bagheera), Matthew Rhys (John Lockwood) and Rohan Chand (Mowgli).
The film will now debut sometime in 2019 on Netflix.
Here’s a taste of what you can expect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pibSpJBGPI4
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