Mowgli Actor Announced For Jon Favreau’s ‘The Jungle Book’

From IRON MAN to CHEF and now back to the big time with THE JUNGLE BOOK, Jon Favreau continues to impress and has now announced the biggest part of this adaptation – Mowgli!

After an extensive worldwide search, it’s been confirmed that 10-year-old newcomer Neel Sethi will take on the famous role for Disney’s new version. It means he’ll be the only actor seen on screen alongside a slew of computer-generated characters, so we’ve got the good old live action mixed up against CGI. 

Obviously Ben Kingsley was already confirmed as the voice of Bagheera, which is an inspired choice, and we’ve got also Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, and Lupita Nyong’o as Rakcha.

We’re sure Neel will do a sterling job, Favreau had this to say about the casting:

“Casting is the most important element of any film and finding the right kid to play Mowgli was imperative. Neel has tremendous talent and charisma. There is a lot riding on his little shoulders and I’m confident he can handle it.”

According to Andy Serkis, this version is quite dark and I hope they bring to life that crossover well, he was originally approached but if WETA’s tech is involved in anyway, that can only be a bonus. We probably think it won’t be on this occasion with it’s probably more likely that Disney will go on the MALEFICENT route. 

Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK is set for an October 9th, 2015 release in North America and in the UK on October 16th, 2015. 

Source: JonFavreau