Coming hot on the heels of the news that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) will lend his voice to Shere Khan in the upcoming Warner Bros. adaptation of The Jungle Book, it has now been revealed that Christian Bale (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), Naomie Harris (Skyfall), Tom Hollander (About Time), Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan), Peter Mullan (Hercules) and Rohan Chand (Bad Words) have signed on to the Andy Serkis-helmed Jungle Book: Origins.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Chand will play the orphan boy Mowgli, with Bale as panther Bagheera, Blanchett as python Kaa, Harris, Marsan and Mullan as wolves Nisha, Vihaan and Akela, and Hollander as Shere Khan’s underling jackal Tabaqui. Meanwhile, Serkis – who is making his directorial debut with the film – will also play Baloo the bear.
Jungle Book: Origins is one of two upcoming adaptations of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale, with Jon Favreau (Iron Man) directing The Jungle Book for Disney with a cast that includes newcomer Neel Sethi starring as Mowgli alongside Bill Murray (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Baloo, Scarlett Johansson (Lucy) as Kaa, Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) as Bagheera, Lupita Nyongo’o (12 Years A Slave) as Raksha, Idris Elba (Luther) as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter) as King Louie and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) as Akela.
