Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and more join Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Just yesterday the announcement came through that Benedict Cumberbatch would move from voicing a dragon to voicing a tiger in Andy Serkis‘ JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS. Now the casting floodgates have opened and pretty much the whole cast has been revealed. Most notably will be Christian Bale as Bagheera and Cate Blanchett as Kaa, the python. With that said, here’s a rundown of who’s playing who in BOTH Jungle Book films.

JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS

Directed by Andy Serkis

• Mowgli – Rohan Chand
• Bagheera – Christian Bale
• Baloo – Andy Serkis
• Shere Khan – Benedict Cumberbatch
• Kaa – Cate Blanchett
• Akela – Peter Mullan
• Tabaqui – Tom Hollander
• Nisha – Naomie Harris
• Vihaan – Eddie Marsan

THE JUNGLE BOOK

Directed by Jon Favreau

• Mowgli – Neel Sethi
• Bagheera – Ben Kingsley
• Baloo – Bill Murray
• Shere Khan – Idris Elba
• Kaa – Scarlett Johansson
• Akela – Giancarlo Esposito
• King Louie – Christopher Walken

I’m not sure which cast I prefer, but I’m looking forward to the darker edge that Serkis will most certainly be lending to his iteration (think the beginning of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES). Either way, I love this head-to-head that often goes on with studios (seen more recently with OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and WHITE HOUSE DOWN). It’s not often we get two takes on a single concept and I’ve really learned to enjoy them. Disney’s version will hit first in October of next year, while ORIGINS will follow a year later. I’ll be curious to see how that fares with audiences.

JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS will bring the mo-cap on October 21, 2016.