Netflix has announced the worldwide release date for Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle - an adaptation by acclaimed actor and director Andy Serkis. Rudyard Kipling’s acclaimed and extremely popular The Jungle Book in which a human offspring torn between two worlds accepts his destiny is being reinvented and one sees him navigating the dangers of both these worlds as he searches for his identity.
Mowgli is being played by child actor Rohan Chand and the film also features a host of veteran actors like Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris. It is set to release on globally on Netflix on 7 December.
Watch the trailer here:
The film promises to be a visual spectacle and also extremely emotionally gripping. Mowgli isn’t a cute human child in Kipling’s book. He skins Shere Khan in the end and does a victory dance. Shere Khan isn’t Mowgli’s nemesis. He’s just his first big kill.
Mowgli clearly understood true friendship, brotherhood, treachery, murder and the ‘ways of man’. He was wise beyond his years. This is something that Andy Serkis’ version of the story touches on.
In the trailer, Bagheera (Christian Bale) tells Mowgli how to win the trust of the humans, so he can escape. His character doesn’t really change. Whether in Warner Bros’ version, or Disney’s, Bagheera tends to remain the way Rudyard has written him.
What is sure to be a treat to watch in this adaptation, is the new Baloo (the bear), played by Andy Serkis himself.
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle will have exclusive limited theatrical engagements starting 29 November 29 Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London. The film will be released globally on Netflix on December 7 and will have an expanded theatrical release in additional theatres in the U.S. and UK.
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