After the huge success of Disney’s live-action Jungle Book, many wondered how the planned Andy Serkis directed take of Rudyard Kipling’s tales was going to find its place. Well, it seems Warner Bros. has decided to leave a couple of years between the movies and to sell it as the darkest, most intense version of the story yet – as evidenced by the first trailer and featurette. There’s also a poster that looks oddly like it’s from a 1960s/1970s exploitation horror film.
Synopsis: ‘Motion capture and live action are blended for “Mowgli,” a new, big-screen, 3D adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic The Jungle Book. The film features an impressive roster of stars under the direction of Andy Serkis.
‘The story follows the upbringing of the human child Mowgli, 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. But there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle, as Mowgli comes face to face with his human origins.
‘The actors performing the roles of the story’s central animal characters are: Oscar winner Christian Bale (“The Fighter,” the “Dark Knight” Trilogy) as the cunning panther, Bagheera; Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine,” “The Aviator”) as the sinister snake, Kaa; Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game,” “Avengers: Infinity War”) as the fearsome tiger, Shere Khan; Oscar nominee Naomie Harris (“Moonlight,” “Skyfall”) as Nisha, the female wolf, who adopts the baby Mowgli as one of her cubs; and Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” trilogy, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) as the wise bear, Baloo. On the human side, Matthew Rhys (“The Post”) is Lockwood; Freida Pinto (“Knight of Cups”) is Messua; and young actor Rohan Chand (“The Hundred-Foot Journey,” “Bad Words”) will play Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves.’
The film is due in cinemas on October 19th. Take a look at the first trailer and poster below. [Read more…]
Hollywood is still keen to adapt videogames, even though few have been particularly successful and quite a lot had been horrific flops. However, you have to wonder what’s going on when they decided it would be a good idea to make a big-budget movie out of a computer game from 1986 – Rampage.
Sam Smith’s Writing’s On The Wall has just become the first Bond theme ever to reach number 1 on the UK single’s charts, and it’s just a few weeks until Spectre reaches cinemas, hoping to match the gargantual success of Skyfall.
Nobody was expecting Skyfall to join the billion dollar box office club, but when it did it ensured the 007 got a massive shot in the arm and there was huge amounts of anticipation for the next instalment. The film, Spectre, reunites Daniel Craig with director Sam Mendes.
It’s official, Bond 24 has been announced with a major event in London and it will be called Spectre. Of course that’s the name of the evil organisation headed by Blofeld in early Bond movies (It stands for (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), and the name of the film signals its return.
