The children’s classic tale of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book looks set to be rehabilitated, a decade after 1994’s disappointing live-action remake starring Jason Scott Lee and Cary Elwes. A new adaptation, written by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li), has caught the eye of Jon Favreau, who is now in talks to direct for Disney.
The résumé of directorial efforts from the multi-hyphenate Jon Favreau is impressive to say the least, and his history of tackling projects that require a deft touch with performance as well as with visual effects makes him an excellent choice for this planned re-boot.
Though he began his directing career in independent cinema with Made (2003), he soon had a family smash-hit on his hands with Elf (2003), and Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) followed close behind. Favreau then blew the doors of Marvel’s movie franchises wide open with Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), before unleashing Cowboys and Aliens (2011) onto audiences worldwide.
Speaking to Deadline, Favreau understandably played his cards close to his chest, but gave the first hint of what we might expect of his Jungle Book:
“I can’t say 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.”
It seems that the potential Jungle Book is a priority project for Disney, with a possible 2014 production schedule, so watch this space for further developments. In the meantime, Jon Favreau fans will be able to whet their appetites on the recently-wrapped Chef, which is due for release in May 2014.
