A replacement is expected to be announced soon as WB is racing with Disney which also makes its own adaptation of Mowgli.
- January 10, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Warner Bros.' upcoming live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale "The Jungle Book (2016)" has lost its director. According to Deadline, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who was originally in talks as a director is now no longer attached to the project due to scheduling conflict.
The Oscar-nominated director is currently busy working on "Birdman", a comedy starring Emma Stone and Michael Keaton. It will be his first feature film after directing Javier Bardem in 2010's "Biutiful" which was nominated for Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film.
"Harry Potter" series scribe Steve Kloves serves as a producer for WB's "Jungle Book", and his daughter Callie Kloves writes the script. The studio is expected to find replacement quickly to keep up with Disney which is also developing its own live-action version of the Mowgli adventure.
Jon Favreau, who directed the first two "Iron Man" films, is tapped by the Mouse House to serve behind the lens of "The Jungle Book". Justin Marks, whose credits include "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li", will pen the screenplay about the famous Mowgli who is raised by wolves and makes friends with bear Baloo and panther Bagheera.
