The highly talented Andy Serkis has signed on to direct The Jungle Book for Warner Bros.
Andy Serkis may be best known for his role in revolutionizing motion-capture in film with his role of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He’s also known for his roles as King Kong, Caesar and most recently directed The Hobbit’s second unit.
Warner Bros. has struggled to find a director for The Jungle Book, with Academy Award winning director Ron Howard previously in talks to direct and produce the film. The film also had Babel director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu set as director, but he was forced to leave after scheduling conflicts.
Now it looks as though Serkis will be helming the live-action project, which will be his directorial debut. He did direct Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit second unit, which is undoubtedly a stressful job. Jackson has a nose for talent, however, so we believe Serkis could be a great choice.
He’s an unbelievable actor who hasn’t been given the spotlight he deserves for his incredible efforts in the motion-capture field, but maybe he will gain more exposure for directing Warner Bros.’ live-action take on The Jungle Book.
We look forward to seeing Serkis in the directing chair, as he’s a fan-favorite and is undoubtedly an untapped talent in Hollywood. He’s currently finishing filming on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, where he’s reprising his role as the film’s lead ape character Caesar.
Disney is also working on a live-action The Jungle Book film, which should be interesting, as the films are being produced essentially at the same time. We’re unsure how two versions of the film will turn out, but Serkis makes us a bit more excited about Warner Bros.’ version.
The Jungle Book doesn’t have a release date yet, but Serkis can next be seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes July 18, 2014.
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