‘Mowgli’ by Andy Serkis reschedules release for 2019 on Netflix

Image: Facebook/@MowgliMovie

Andy Serkis’ version of “The Jungle Book” has switched platforms and rescheduled its release date for sometime in 2019 on Netflix.

“Mowgli” had been scheduled for an Oct. 19, 2018, theatrical release by Warner Bros. after they bumped it from the October 2017 plan. With Netflix’s acquisition of the film, “Mowgli” will now debut on the streaming service sometime in 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Serkis’ film will be a darker retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale. It will focus more on Mowgli the man cub’s relationship with the animals and with the humans. It will be more of an emotional and dramatic piece about connections; the connections between Mowgli and the animals, and Mowgli and the humans.

Serkis himself played as Baloo the bear through performance capture even as he directed the film. “Mowgli” is also the actor’s directorial debut. Alongside him is 14-year-old Rohan Chand as the the titular character, and Hollywood big names such as Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan (“Doctor Strange”), Cate Blanchett as Kaa (“Thor: Ragnarok”), and Christian Bale as Bagheera (“Batman Begins”).

“Mowgli” went into development as early as 2012. Serkis later came into the project in 2014 to take over the director’s seat. Warner Bros. initially wanted to release the film in the same year as Favreau’s “Jungle Book,” which debuted in April 2016, but decided to push it back to 2017. They cited additional work on the visuals as the reason for changing the film’s release date.  Alfred Bayle /ra

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