I can’t say I’m all that excited about another version of The Jungle Book , but Disney are pressing ahead with their live action version nonetheless. If they actually go back to the book, something the 1942 live action version did somewhat, then the existence of this new version can be justified, but I have a feeling that Disney won’t do that.
The latest news is that Christopher Walken is going to be the king Of The Swingers. Yes, Wallen is going to play King Louis, the ape monarch with eyes above his station. I guess he won’t be singing I Wanna Be Like You. Also joining the cast is Giancarlo Espositino, who has had previous experience playing a Disney character, the series Once Upon A Time’s‘ genie-turned-magic mirror. She will play Akela, the leader of the wolf pack that adopts human child Mowgli, who is played in the film by 10-year-old first-time actor Neel Sethi.
The two newcomers join a cast of high-profile voice actors that already include Ben Kingsley as noble panther Bagheera, Lupita Nyong’o as mother wolf Raksha, Idris Elba as wicked tiger Shere Khan, and Scarlett Johansson as the hypnotic snake Kaa. Sethi will be the only actor to physically appear onscreen throughout the film. Jon Favreau is the director.
He’d make a great Shere Khan tbh.