Warner Bros. has cast an entire zoos worth of actors for its adaptation of The Jungle Book, which Andy Serkis is directing.
Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Tom Hollander, Eddie Marsan and Peter Mullan are joining Benedict Cumberbatch to star as the animal characters in the feature. Rohan Chand, the young actor who starred opposite Jason Bateman in Bad Words, will star as the human boy Mowgli.
Serkis will also take on a role.
Callie Kloves wrote the script, adapting the Rudyard Kipling short stories, while her father, Steve Kloves, the screenwriter who wrote seven of the Harry Potter films for the studio, is producing. The movie will employ a mix of motion capture, CG animation and live-action.
Jungle Book centers on Mowgli, an orphaned boy raised by wolves who befriends members of the animal kingdom who help him grow up. Serkis will play Baloo the bear, while Bale will voice Begheera, a fearsome panther, both of whom save Mowgli from the killer tiger Shere Khan (Cumberbatch) and teach him the law of the jungle.
Blanchett will voice Kaa, a sinister python who is also a friend to Mowgli, while Hollander will play Tabaqui, the jackal who is an underling of Shere Khan.
Mullan will be Akela, the leader of the wolf pack that raises Mowgli. Harris is the female wolf Nisha, while Marsan is her mate, Vihaan.
With the casting now complete, Warners Jungle Book is ready to go ape-to-ape with Disney, which is also mounting a live-action/CG hybrid with Jon Favreau in the directors chair.
Jon Berg and Cate Adams are overseeing the project for Warners.
Jungle Book is a rare move for Bale (WME, Bloom Hergott), who last voiced a character in the English translation of Howls Moving Castle. Blanchett (CAA, RGM Artist Group) voiced one of the key characters in this summer's How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Harris (UTA, Untitled Entertainment, UKs Tavistock Wood) portrayed Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, while Hollander (UTA, 42) appeared in Muppets Most Wanted and has voiced many characters in American Dad!
Marsan (U.K.s Markham Froggatt) appears on Showtimes Ray Donovan and was seen in Edgar Wrights The Worlds End. Mullan (ICM Partners, Markham Froggatt) appeared in Hercules.
Chand is repped by Paradigm, Coast to Coast Talent and Myman Greenspan.
