How do you maximise the publicity coverage of your movie? You attach it to the biggest film of the decade, of course – something that is easier to do when your movie shares a studio with said juggernaut. This is the fortuitous situation in which we find Jon Favreau’s next directorial outing, The Jungle Book, and Disney has tweeted a Vine that provides us with a brief taster of what we can expect to see if we go to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3D.
To be fair, the Vine itself doesn’t seem to contain anything new, beyond what we have enjoyed in the previously released previews. However, it does serve to remind us of the stunning visuals Favreau and his team appear to have achieved, and this alone is enough to build excitement for seeing a newly extended version up on the big screen, in all its glory.
“The Jungle Book is an upcoming American live-action/CGI film directed by Jon Favreau, written by Justin Marks, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film’s executive producers are Molly Allen, Karen Gilchrist, Peter M. Tobyanse. Music will be written by John Debney.”
It seems especially fitting that The Jungle Book trailer is attached to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is a film notable for the director’s noble effort to return to the essence of the original films. As seen in the first trailers released for The Jungle Book, Favreau appears to have returned to author Rudyard Kipling’s original source material, while making delicious references to the popular 1967 Disney animation.
If Academy Awards were ever distributed for casting, then The Jungle Book would surely be in the running, as its assembly of actors and voice artists is among the most perfect ever assigned.
Neel Sethi stars as Mowgli, while Emjay Anthony features as Grey Brother. Joining them are Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken as King Louie, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela and Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha. The finished product can be found in theatres from April 15th 2016.