First it was announced that Benedict Cumberbatch would be playing the role of Shere Khan in Warner Brothers’ adaptation of The Jungle Book, titled Jungle Book: Origins, being directed by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis.

But instead of waiting a bit to announce the next single actor joining the movie, it was decided to go ahead and announce the rest of the cast all at once. Joining Cumberbatch is Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Tom Hollander, Eddie Marsan, Rohan Chand, and Peter Mullan.

Bale will play the role of Bagheera the panther; Blanchett will play the python Kaa; Harris plays the wolf Nisha, with Marsan playing her mate Vihaan; Hollander will be Tabaqui, a jackal that follows Shere Khan; Chand, who starred in Bad Words with Jason Bateman, plays the man-cub Mowgli; and Mullan will play wolf pack leader Akela.

As expected when it was reported that he’d be making his directorial debut on the project, it’s been confirmed that Serkis will also be playing one of the characters, taking on the role of Baloo the bear.

Something else that was expected and is now confirmed is that the movie will be composed of a mixture of live-action, motion capture, and CG animation. It would have been absurd not to use the motion capture with Serkis directing.

Now that the cast is in place, and we know who Disney has playing the roles in their competing adaptation being directed by Jon Favreau, which of the two new Jungle Book movies are you looking forward to most?

Jungle Book: Origins will be released on October 21, 2016.

[Source: Heat Vision]