After watching Disney make a series of canny casting announcements over the past few months, Andy Serkis’s Jungle Book: Origins has responded by adding Benedict Cumberbatch to its ranks.
Cumberbatch will be supplying the dulcet tones of nefarious tiger, Shere Khan, a part that will be voiced by Idris Elba in the Disney version.
No other cast members have been confirmed as yet, but with Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken all lining up for Disney, Serkis’s film will have plenty to live up to.
Not that the director will be aiming to simply tell the exact same story as the rival adaptation, with Serkis repeatedly suggesting that his version will put a darker spin on Mowgli’s tale.
Disney’s version will be first out of the gate, hitting UK screens on 16 October 2015, while Jungle Book: Origins will open in the US on 21 October 2016, with a UK release date to be confirmed.
