First Poster of The Jungle Book, With Ben Kingsley as Bagheera
Take a peek at the poster in all its glory, complete with our first look at Mowgli and Bagheera, as well as some casual monkeys and Kaa the snake. During the footage, Baloo hums the tune to the classic Jungle Book song “Bare Necessities” while floating down a river with Mowgli. And oh yeah, Bill Murray as Baloo. The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau, is not to be confused with an origin story being made by Andy Serkis that’s scheduled for 2017. Favreau talked about bringing the classic animated film to life and what a thrill it was to finally see it all on the big screen after all his work. Scarlett Johansen is Kaa and narrates the footage shown.
In order for the vision of the film to be just right, Favreau implored the same CGI-hybrid live action technology that was used in James Cameron’s Avatar, with much of the scenes having to be shot twice, one with mo-cap suits, and another live-action. We hear her describe the flames as a warm light that can bring destruction. There’s also a tease of Christopher Walken’s King Louie, the orangutan character of the animated film, who introduces himself: “I’m the king”. That, however, is not the full extent of the preview that we received this morning, as Disney showed off an entire sizzle reel from the 2016 blockbuster.
“The Jungle Book” is in theaters April 15, 2016. This is paired with footage of the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) attacking a young Mowgli (Neel Sethi), the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) finding the little boy, and Mowgli explaining to his wolf mother Raksha (Lupita Nyongo) that he needs to leave his family before anyone else gets hurt.