Disney has produced a number of big-budget, live-action remakes of their animated classics in recent years, but few have been as successful as Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book. Okay, so Beauty and the Beast was the more financially significant hit for the studio, grossing $1.263 billion worldwide, enough to make it the 12th biggest movie in history. But in addition to its $966 million worldwide gross, The Jungle Book received unparalleled levels of acclaim for a Disney remake, with many labeling Favreau's blend of high quality animation and live-action as revolutionary. Favreau is using the same approach for next year's reinvention of The Lion King, which is almost guaranteed to be one of the biggest films of all time. But if you thought Favreau's 2016 film was the only version of The Jungle Book in the works, well, this is Hollywood after all. Andy Serkis has been working on a dark, revisionist take on Rudyard Kipling's classic story for many years, and it's set to finally reach the big screen in the fall after several delays. Earlier today, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for the film, which is simply titled Mowgli. Watch it below!
On one hand, a dark, grim, and violent adaptation of The Jungle Book is a somewhat silly idea. Really, who's asking for this? Part of me is very concerned that this will be the latest in a long line of flops for the creatives at Warner Bros., who struggled to turn films like Pan and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword into hits. But at the same time, Disney basically tried to craft a more intense rendition of this story with their remake, except they failed to commit to the tone. Favreau's version mixed spectacular, violent action sequences with strangely placed musical numbers, which undermined the intensity of the project at every turn. Director Andy Serkis appears to be committing to the brutality of the story in this rendition, and I'm actually excited for that level of consistency. With the motion-capture wizard at the helm (who has starred in everything from the Planet of the Apes trilogy to the latest Star Wars series), it's no surprise that Mowgli looks visually stunning and downright gorgeous. And with that excellent cast, led by Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Benedict Cumberbatch, there's some real pedigree to the film as well. This trailer didn't convince me that we need this movie, but I didn't walk away disappointed either. There's good reason to be cautiously optimistic, and I'm firmly in wait and see mode at this point.
Mowgli will debut in theaters on October 19.
Image: Warner Bros./IMDb
On one hand, a dark, grim, and violent adaptation of The Jungle Book is a somewhat silly idea. Really, who's asking for this? Part of me is very concerned that this will be the latest in a long line of flops for the creatives at Warner Bros., who struggled to turn films like Pan and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword into hits. But at the same time, Disney basically tried to craft a more intense rendition of this story with their remake, except they failed to commit to the tone. Favreau's version mixed spectacular, violent action sequences with strangely placed musical numbers, which undermined the intensity of the project at every turn. Director Andy Serkis appears to be committing to the brutality of the story in this rendition, and I'm actually excited for that level of consistency. With the motion-capture wizard at the helm (who has starred in everything from the Planet of the Apes trilogy to the latest Star Wars series), it's no surprise that Mowgli looks visually stunning and downright gorgeous. And with that excellent cast, led by Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Benedict Cumberbatch, there's some real pedigree to the film as well. This trailer didn't convince me that we need this movie, but I didn't walk away disappointed either. There's good reason to be cautiously optimistic, and I'm firmly in wait and see mode at this point.
Mowgli will debut in theaters on October 19.
Image: Warner Bros./IMDb
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