Jon Favreau in Talks to Direct THE JUNGLE BOOK
Iron Man director Jon Favreau is in talks with Disney to direct their big screen adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic 1894 novel, The Jungle Book. The studio is hoping to turn it into a franchise. Over the last few years Favreau has been developing another big tentpole film for Disney called Magic Kingdom, which is set inside the Disneyland theme park. We have no word where that film currently stands, but Disney is obviously still in business with him.
The story focuses on the boy Mowgli who is raised by animals in the Indian jungle, where he befriends a bear and panther and is hunted by a vicious tiger.
Justin Marks (The Raven, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) is writing the script for the movie, and it's set to go into production next year.
Favreau is a great director, and it would be great to see him take on a project like this. I think we could give the story a really awesome adaptation. I hope the deal goes through. The director told Deadline,
“I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take that could be very cool, and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic elements. It is my first real family film since Elf, and there are action elements and visual effects that I feel like my experience on the Iron Man films are going to be useful.”What do you think about Favreau taking on The Jungle Book?