Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book: Origins pushed back to 2018

We have to wait a year more to admire Cate Blanchett’s Kaa.

What with all the hullabaloo about Jon Favreau and Disney’s effects-filled take on The Jungle Book, which arrives here next week, you might be forgiven for forgetting that Andy Serkis has been working on his own version. But if you were excited by that prospect, you’re going to have to be even more patient, as Warner Bros. has moved Jungle Book: Origins back a year to 2018 in a new round of schedule shuffling.

The movie has already seen one release date change, and had the disadvantage of arriving a while after Favreau’s film. But perhaps a further shift will actually be to its advantage, allowing memories to cool and comparisons to dim. After having worked extensively on the Hobbit trilogy as a second unit director, he’s stepping up to using this as his full directorial debut, having recruited the likes of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hollander, Matthew Rhys andNaomie Harris to provide the performance capture for the various animals, and playing Baloo himself.

The Jungle Book adaptation is shifting to October 19, 2018.

via Empire Online