Oscar-nominated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri star Sam Rockwell has signed on to lend his voice to the titular gorilla in Disney’s upcoming adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s Newbery Medal-winning book The One and Only Ivan.
The film is being directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) and will be a live-action/CG animated hybrid, with Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) set for the live-action lead and Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) and Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) part of the voice cast.
The 2011 book “centers on a silverback gorilla named Ivan (Rockwell) who lives in a cage in a shopping mall along with an elephant named Stella (Jolie) and a stray dog called Bob. Ivan does not remember life before the mall, but when a baby elephant named Ruby (Prince) enters and Ivan finds himself taking care of her, he begins to rediscover his previous life and concocts a plan to take the baby elephant away from their abusive owner.”
SEE ALSO: In Praise of Sam Rockwell
Rockwell contests the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at next month’s Academy Awards for his acclaimed turn as a racist police officer in Three Billboards, and has recently wrapped production on Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic, where he portrays President George W. Bush.
Via THR