'Jungle Book' Movie News: Jon Favreau's Movie Finds Actor To Play Mowgli [VIDEO]
The Jungle Book, directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau, went through a worldwide search to find the part of Mowgli, and he has reportedly been discovered.
Neel Sethi, a 10-year-old actor, has been cast as Mowgli in Disney's live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, the studio announced on Wednesday.
The Wrap reports that the new film, which comes from a script by Justin Marks, will follow the adventures of Mowgli, the little human boy who's raised by wolves and who's friends with all sorts of jungle creatures.
Iron Man 3's Ben Kingsley will voice Bagheera, the black panther who helped raise Mowgli and is one of his best friends and protectors, alongside the bear Baloo. In addition to Kingsley, 12 Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o voices Rakcha, the wolf mother who adopts Mowgli; Captain America 2's Scarlett Johansson voices Kaa, the villainous python who hyptonizes her prey before eating them; while Pacific Rim's Idris Elba voices Shere Khan, the fierce tiger who becomes Mowgli's biggest foe.
Favreau is returning to blockbuster directing after the success of the first two Iron Man films and the critical and commercial flop, Cowboys and Aliens. He recently wrote and directed the independent film, Chef, which has been strong at the independent box office. Another Jungle Book movie is planned with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Andy Serkis directing, but has no correlation with the Disney version.
The Jungle Book combines live action and animated filmmaking, with Sethi playing the only live human character, and will be released in theaters in 3D on October 9, 2015.
