Alfonso Cuarón Reported to Be Consultant for Warner Bros.' 2018 'Jungle Book' Movie
Alfonso Cuarón (Photo: Marco Ugarte/AP)
The fact that Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book has been well-received and a significant hit at the box office is good news … unless, perhaps, you’ve been working on the Warner Bros. version of the man-cub story, which has been in production since last March.
Related: Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’ Scores Huge $103.6 Million U.S. Debut at Box Office
That may explain why, as Deadline reports, Warner Bros. has tapped Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, director of Gravity and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, to act as a consultant on the project. A Hollywood Reporter story on Cuaron’s involvement notes that such consulting jobs often involve “vague tasks from assisting in directing to even postproduction work.” But the Deadline piece implies that Cuarón will merely give notes on Warner’s version of the Mowgli and Baloo adventures, which has already finished production. “Insiders stress that Cuarón is a friend to the studio and there is sensitivity to this being misinterpreted as Cuarón taking over this movie,” the story says.
Related: ‘Jungle Book’: 8 Things Disney’s 1994 Remake Taught Us
This Jungle Book is being directed by Andy Serkis, the actor known for his ground-breaking motion-capture performances in the Lord of the Rings films and recent Planet of the Apes series. The feature marks his directorial debut, though, as THR notes, he did do second-unit work on Peter Jackson’s three Hobbit films. With Favreau’s Jungle Book setting such a high bar, having Cuarón on board may ease some of the pressure for Serkis, who also plays the role of Baloo in the film alongside his motion-capture cast mates Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Matthew Rhys.
Another move that may ease some pressure: Warner Bros. has pushed the release date of The Jungle Book from Oct. 6, 2017 to Oct. 19, 2018.
Box Office Roundup: Disney’s ‘Jungle Book’ Scores Big Debut:
