Bill Murray is joining the star-studded cast for Disney’s interesting remake of “The Jungle Book,” and he will be lending his voice to one of the most beloved characters…Baloo.
Director Jon Favreau officially revealed the news with a picture of Mowgli and Baloo posted to his Instagram on Friday evening.
Murray will voice Baloo, and yes, he will be animated. Actually, there is just one live actor in the film and it will be that of newcomer Neel Sethi, who will play Mowgli.
The rest of the voice cast includes:
- Christopher Walken as King Louie
- Idris Elba as Shere Khan
- Scarlett Johansson as Kaa
- Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, leader of a wolf pack
- Lupita Nyong’o as wolf mother Raksha
- Sir Ben Kingsley as Bagheera
“The Jungle Book” will combine live-action and animation with Jon Favreau directing from a script by Justin Marks. The film will be released in 3D and open on Oct. 9, 2015.
Disney announced Murray’s casting as Baloo on Friday, a few hours after Warner Bros. announced that it had dated its rival project “Jungle Book: Origins” for Oct. 21, 2016.
Warner Bros. version of the film will be directed by Andy Serkis.
Rudyard Kipling’s book is in the public domain.
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