Jon Favreau is in a good place at Disney. He’s been attached to direct MAGIC KINGDOM, a film we’ve been hearing about since 2010. The last piece of news we got was early last year when Steve Carell signed on to play the lead in the family film.
With no current movement on that project (that we’re aware of), it seems Disney has lined up another one for Favreau to direct.
His next commitment will be an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling‘s THE JUNGLE BOOK. Justin Marks (THE RAVEN) is set to turn in a draft of his script to the studio very soon. Production should start next year.
Favreau gave this statement about the Disney take on the popular story:
“I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take that could be very cool, and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic elements. It is my first real family film since Elf, and there are action elements and visual effects that I feel like my experience on the Iron Man films are going to be useful.”
This is not the first time that the studio has taken on THE JUNGLE BOOK. My favorite adaptation thus far is their animation version of the tale from 1967. The last time we saw JUNGLE BOOK on the big screen was Stephen Sommer’s 1994 version which starred Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, and John Cleese.