Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mowgli: First official trailer for Andy Serkis's Jungle Book movie is here

Another adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's book coming soon

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 22 May 2018 08:18 BST
Comments
Mowgli - Trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

There are few stories as lasting as The Jungle Book, the tale of a boy raised by wolves having been adapted to multiple formats.

Two years ago, Disney’s re-imagining of their own animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s book was released, grossing the company almost $1 billion at the box office.

Now comes Andy Serkis’s own version, Mowgli (formerly Jungle Book Origins), which will see the titular character engage with mankind once more.

Featuring an astounding voice cast – including Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, and Tom Hollander – and directed by Serkis, the first trailer has been released online, teasing perhaps the darkest Jungle Book retelling yet.

Mowgli has long been in development, principle photography having started back in March 2015. Serkis has previously put the long wait down to the ambitious CGI his studio, Imaginarium, has been working on.

“The ambition for this project is huge,” the director, who will also star as Baloo, previously said. “What we are attempting is an unprecedented level of psychological and emotional nuance in morphing the phenomenal performances of our cast into the facial expressions of our animals.

“We are breaking new ground with realistic non-humanoid animal faces, such as a panther or wolf, ensuring that they convincingly communicate with human language and emotion via performance capture, and are able to stand up to real scrutiny in richly complex dramatic scenes.”

Serkis previously directed Breathe, which reached cinemas last year. Oddly enough, Mowgli filmed a year before Breathe.

Mowgli reaches cinemas 19 October 2018.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in