So, John Carter didn’t work and The Lone Ranger really didn’t work, leaving Disney on a journey for another inspiration for a franchise. A new idea is reportedly rebooting The Jungle Book as a live-action film.
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting this afternoon that Disney has hired Justin Marks to adapt Rudyard Kipling’s legendary Jungle Book stories for a live action film. These stories are in the public domain, so the fact that Warner Bros. is also working on a Mowgli picture shouldn’t be an issue. (Warner has Harry Potter writer Steve Kloves on that job.)
Marks’ current job is the script for The Raven, a project Mark Wahlberg and Universal are producing, based on a sci-fi short. He also wrote a draft for the long gestating 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea reboot Disney is planning.
THR notes that the Jungle Book project still has no producer attached and Disney is still looking for an interested director.
The Jungle Book was previously adapted by Disney in 1967 as the basis for one of its most popular animated films. It was the last project Walt Disney produced himself and was released after his death. The studio also produced a poorly received sequel in 2003.
If this project happens, it will be the latest story Disney has taken from animated classic to live action. Alice In Wonderland was a smash hit in 2010 and the studio is currently working on Cinderella for 2015 and Maleficent in 2014. There has also been rumors about a Beauty and the Beast film.
image: Amazon