Disney must think that their upcoming live action versions of their classic animated fairy tales are going to be hits because the studio has just started developing yet another of their masterpieces for a new generation. After MALEFICENT with Angelina Jolie and CINDERELLA from Kenneth Branagh, Disney is now bringing THE JUNGLE BOOK back to theaters just 20 years after their last live action take on the Rudyard Kipling tale.
The short story collection was published in 1894, and the majority of the tales focus on Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves whose friends include a bear named Baloo and a panther by the name of Bagheera. One of the adversaries that pops up several times is Shere Khan, a mean tiger.
The new version will be scripted by Justin Marks who also wrote the upcoming Mark Wahlberg movie THE RAVEN and an early draft of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. It is currently unknown if the new movie will be a take on the 1964 musical film or more along the lines of the Stephen Sommers directed action movie that starred Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, and Lena Headey.
THE JUNGLE BOOK would also create a glut of similarly themed films over the next few year as Warner Bros. is developing their own take on THE JUNGLE BOOK from HARRY POTTER screenwriter Steven Kloves. There are also dueling TARZAN movies coming which is close in tone and story to THE JUNGLE BOOK. As long as Stephen Sommers isn’t involved, we should be okay.