Moviefone Editorial

Tag: jon-favreau

  • ‘The Lion King’ Live-Action Remake Casts Donald Glover & James Earl Jones

    Meet Disney’s new Simba: Donald Glover. You might also know him as the award-winning guy from “Atlanta,” or the future Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo standalone movie. He’s everywhere lately, and that’s a good thing.

    Jon Favreau is directing Disney’s live-action “The Lion King” remake, which Variety said is being fast-tracked even as Favreau works on the sequel to “The Jungle Book.”

    Favreau just announced Glover’s casting, along with news that James Earl Jones will once again play Mufasa, whom he voiced in the 1994 animated blockbuster:

    So that’s two Star Wars connections: The voice of Darth Vader, and the new Lando. Just saying.

    Disney is on a live-action roll at the moment — from “Maleficent” and “Cinderella” to “The Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast” — even if some fans still wish they’d leave their animated classics alone.

    There’s no official production start date yet for Favreau’s “Lion King,” but stay tuned.

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  • This ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Preview Is the ‘Coolest’ Tease Ever

    With great power comes great trailer teases. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is sharing its first trailer on Thursday, but first Marvel whet our appetites with a brief — but perfect — preview, starring Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan, with a name-drop cameo from Tony Stark:

    Happy: “What the hell is that? What the hell are you wearing?”

    Peter: “It’s my suit.”

    Happy: “Where’s the case?”

    Peter: “What case?”

    Happy: “Didn’t you see the case?”

    Peter: “What? [reads note] A minor upgrade from Tony Stark…”

    Nothing from Iron Man is ever “minor,” as we see in what Spidey himself declares “the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” We’re expecting something pretty close to that level when the first trailer drops. Don’t let us down!

    “Spider-Man: Homecoming” — directed by Jon Watts and co-starring Robert Downey Jr., Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, and Zendaya — is scheduled for release July 7th, 2017.

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  • 5 Things We Want to See in Disney’s Live-Action ‘Lion King’ Remake

    Disney’s ongoing quest to remake every single one of their animated movies in live-action continues, with “The Lion King” set to join a lineup that has already included 2014’s “Maleficent,” 2015’s “Cinderella,” and April 2016’s “The Jungle Book.” “Jungle Book” director Jon Favreau is onboard to direct the new movie.

    While we’re excited for this latest remake, we also know that Disney’s track record in this area has been spotty so far. Here are five things the “Lion King” remake needs to do if it’s going to live up to the beloved original.

    1. Make It a Musical
    To date, most of Disney’s live-action remakes have eschewed the iconic soundtracks of the original animated versions and gone the completely musical-free route. Even “Jungle Book” only borrowed two of the songs from the 1967 version. But based on early reports, it sounds like the “Lion King” remake will include several songs from the original.

    As far as we’re concerned, musicals are a case where filmmakers need to go all-in or not bother at all. We don’t want to see another case like “The Jungle Book,” where one really fun Christopher Walken-led musical number completely flips the tone of the movie for five minutes. We want to see all of our favorites from the original “Lion King,” including “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”.

    2. Find Great Voice Actors
    The original “Lion King” stood out for many reasons, but the talented voice cast was a big factor. Between James Earl Jones’ regal Mufasa, Jonathan Taylor Thomas’ spunky Simba and Jeremy Irons’ deliciously evil Scar, the film really does boast one of the best casts in Disney history.

    The remake has a lot to live up to in that regard. Jon Favreau and his crew need to focus a lot of attention on finding voice actors who can bring these characters to life and bring depth and pathos to talking safari animals — much he did with the cast of “Jungle Book.” We almost wonder if Disney isn’t better off bringing the original cast back, but ultimately, the remake needs to establish its own identity.

    3. No Humans, Please
    “Lion King” is fairly unique in that the movie features an entirely animal cast. There’s no plucky young child hero teaming up with the lions or evil poacher trying to steal elephant ivory. The original had no need for humans in its story, and we see no reason why the remake would, either.

    Consider the example of “Wall-E.” While that film is undoubtedly one of the greatest additions to the Pixar canon, it’s hard to deny that the film loses some of its luster when the human characters start intruding on the love story between Wall-E and EVE. We’d hate to see something similar happen for “Lion King.”

    4. Leave Room for Some Surprises
    With the original “Lion King” ranking among the best entries in Disney’s ’90s renaissance, it goes without saying that this remake needs to honor its source material.

    At the same time, we don’t want to see a remake that simply recycles what came before with a fancy new coat of paint. The remake can re-purpose the old songs, but it can’t just coast by using the same plot as before. It has to be able to surprise viewers who grew up watching and re-watching the VHS tape until it wore out.

    Luckily, Favreau already set a strong example with “The Jungle Book.” That remake is similar to the original in most respects, but it deviates in many ways as well. The ending is also completely different from the animated version. That’s what we want to see from “Lion King.”

    5. Build a Shared Universe
    Thanks to the “Avengers” movies, shared universes are all the rage these days. We’re almost surprised that Disney hasn’t leaned more heavily on its classic animated franchises to build a shared Disney universe. Outside of the “kingdom Hearts” video games, anyway.

    But with Favreau helming “Jungle Book” and now “The Lion King,” we wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney start building some connections between these live-action remakes.

    We don’t necessarily need to see the Disney equivalent of Nick Fury assembling talking animal heroes to form the Disney Avengers, but it would be really neat to see actual continuity form between movies and for “The Lion king” to somehow reference the events of “The Jungle Book.”

  • Disney Announces Live-Action ‘The Lion King,’ Because Of Course

    It’s the circle of Disney life. If there’s a successful animated classic out there, Disney will give it a live-action remake, especially if Jon Favreau is on board.

    Favreau just had success with “The Jungle Book,” and now Disney has announced the director is taking on “a new reimagining” of “The Lion King.” According to Collider, the new film will feature songs from the 1994 blockbuster, but it’s not clear what else will be changed or retained.


    So that makes “The Lion King” the latest in Disney’s series of live-action remakes, including “Maleficent,” “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” and — next year — the highly anticipated “Beauty and the Beast” with Emma Watson.

    Disney reportedly has several other live-action reimaginings in development, including “Dumbo,” “Mulan,” “Aladdin,” “Peter Pan,” “Cruella,” “The Sword in the stone,” and “Tinker Bell.”

    It’s hard to know how to feel about this. Was anyone begging for a live-action version of “The Lion King”? Probably not. Then again, Jon Favreau has a good track record of not messing with our childhood memories, and only helping to create new cherished memories for cynical adults and their kids, so … let’s stay cautiously optimistic?

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  • Happy Hogan to Join Tony Stark in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

    Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Nice Guys" - ArrivalsTony Stark won’t have to be parted from his driver, bodyguard, and close friend Happy Hogan when he appears in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

    Actor Jon Favreau is reportedly set to reprise his “Iron Man” role in the upcoming Sony and Marvel film, according to Variety. With Robert Downey, Jr. already lined up to bring Stark and his superhero alter ego, Iron Man, to the superhero flick, it makes sense for Favreau to come along for the ride. The two will join Tom Holland as the young actor headlines his first MCU movie.

    Holland already had plenty of support as it was, given that the cast includes Donald Glover, Zendaya, Logan Marshall-Green, and Tony Revolori. Still, it’s always fun to see another familiar face, especially a Marvel vet like Favreau. In addition to playing Hogan, he also helmed “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2.”

    “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is currently shooting in Atlanta with Jon Watts directing. The film is due out in theaters on July 7, 2017.

    [via: Variety]

  • Pull Up Your Red Diaper for ‘The Jungle Book’ Honest Trailer

    Disney’s “The Jungle Book” is now available on Digital HD, so in its honor, Screen Junkies gave the movie its own Honest Trailer … that takes its harshest shots at the Andy Serkis “Jungle Book” coming in 2018.

    The Honest Trailers series is usually pretty brutal, but they clearly loved director Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book,” calling it “the year’s best film about talking animals, which is really saying something, ’cause there’s been like 10 of them already and the year’s not even done yet.” They also call it groundbreaking, well-written, visually stunning, and action-packed, accepting that it’s just way better than it should be.

    “Follow along on a young man’s search for acceptance in this winning combination of ‘The Lion King,’ a Ben Kingsley nature documentary, and a kid-friendly version of ‘The Revenant.’ Jeez I hope there’s no deleted scene where he sleeps inside of a rhino… Journey deep inside a downtown Los Angeles blue screen studio, where a grown man spent months playing with a little boy in his underwear, that they turned into this? Holy crap.”

    Pretty amazing. Watch the Honest Trailer trailer:It’s true. Scarlett Johansson’s voice is a turn-on in just about any context.

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  • Top Rated Movies From American Directors

    The GodfatherThe U.S. has produced some ridiculously talented movie directors, filmmakers with a legacy of repeatedly creating profound emotional experiences for audiences. But every one of these cinematic titans has a single movie that established that claim to fame — the one that proved they could grip audiences with their visual storytelling. Here are six classics that represent the best of the best in American movies.

    ‘Do The Right Thing’ (1989)

    In 1986, Spike Lee achieved mainstream success with “She’s Gotta Have It,” a movie that established the writer-director as an artist who could challenge social norms while telling a compelling story. Three years later, he followed it up with “Do The Right Thing,” a movie that depicted a day in the life of residents of a Brooklyn neighborhood — and reflected racial tensions with brave realism. The cinematography and use of music showcase impressive film-making, but it’s the movie’s ongoing social relevance that makes “Do The Right Thing” one of Lee’s best.

    ‘The Godfather’ (1972)

    While it’s easy to describe “The Godfather” as one of the best mafia movies of all time, the film’s strength lies as much in its character dynamics as it does in its depiction of organized crime. The three threads of the movie — the relationships between the three Corleone brothers, the crime family’s rise to power, and Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) complicated love story — are woven together beautifully, and showcase director Francis Ford Coppola‘s abilities as a storyteller and visual artist. “The Godfather” has been imitated repeatedly, but the original will always remain a classic.

    ‘Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope’ (1977)

    The first act in George Lucas‘s space opera, “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope” (or as it was known back then, “Star Wars”), introduced characters and story lines that would quickly become integral parts of modern culture. By now, much of the adoration heaped on the movie is largely influenced by nostalgia, but beneath all the hype is a genuinely good movie — Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) journey to become a Jedi is both the quintessential origin story and a heart-racing adventure for all ages.

    ‘Iron Man’ (2008)

    It’s hard to imagine a time when comic-book blockbusters didn’t dominate movie theaters. But back in 2008, the term “Marvel Cinematic Universe” was just a glimmer in the eye of a few nerdy filmmakers — including director Jon Favreau. In a gamble to fight off impending financial ruin, Marvel invested in making the now-legendary movie “Iron Man.” The stakes were high. Prior to release, Marvel had agreed to give up the movie rights to every character they hadn’t already sold (that’s right, every last Avenger) if the movie wasn’t a success. Lucky for Marvel, “Iron Man” blew audiences away with its take on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his super-suit, and the movie’s mix of intrigue, action, and humor set the tone for the billion-dollar franchise — proving the risk was well worth it.

    ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001)

    Wes Anderson‘s “The Royal Tenenbaums” defined what’s come to be known as the hipster aesthetic — the seminal movie is slightly intellectual, meticulously put together, and highly stylized with offbeat colors, fonts, and fashions. Packed to the gills with an all-star cast (including Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, and Alec Baldwin), “The Royal Tenenbaums” uses what would become an eventual trope for the director — deadpan, nearly emotionless acting — and creates character growth from it. The result is as heartwarming as it is stylish. As the members of the Tenenbaum family learn to support each other as people instead of commodities, the audience gets more and more invested in each of them.

    ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941)

    It’s hard to talk about great American movies without discussing “Citizen Kane.” Considered by many to be the greatest movie of all time, “Citizen Kane” is from director Orson Welles, and depicts the life of fictional publishing magnate Charles Foster Kane. “Citizen Kane” established film-making and storytelling techniques that are now considered standards — the story told through flashbacks, the deliberately slow pacing of its protagonist’s life story — so much so, that it’s easy to forget that they originated with Welles. More than that, however, the story of “Citizen Kane” is the story of the American dream, and the movie works as a monument to an ideal as much as it does a classic tale of a man’s tragic life.

    Sources

  • 5 Reasons Why ‘Jungle Book’ Roared to the Top of the Box Office

    It wasn’t a big surprise that Disney’s new live-action “The Jungle Book” opened at No. 1 this weekend. What was a shocker, however, was just how big the latest version of Rudyard Kipling’s tale turned out to be.

    Going into the weekend, positive buzz for the film led to predictions that it would open to at least $70 million, $85 million on the high-end of expectations. On Sunday, however, Disney estimated that the film’s opening weekend had grossed $103.6 million. That makes it the second-biggest April opening ever, beating the $95.0 million earned by “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” two years ago, and second only to last year’s “Furious 7,” at $147.2 million. It’s also the biggest April opening ever for a PG-rated movie.

    How did “Jungle Book” over-perform so much this weekend? Here are five ways.

    1. Marketing
    By now, Disney has mastered the art of turning its beloved animated classics into live-action reboots. But there’s more than brand recognition at work here. Disney’s marketers — and director Jon Favreau — made a point of playing up the state-of-the-art CG that allowed the filmmakers to simulate a jungle in a Los Angeles warehouse and populate it with photorealistic animals. The trailers audiences saw, and the advance stories they read, promised not just a kiddie adventure with talking animals, but also an immersive experience in a lush, exotic world on the level of “Avatar.”

    2. 3D and IMAX
    As a result, this marked the rare film that viewers felt merited the surcharges they’d have to pay to see it in an enhanced format. It helped that 75 percent of North American theaters showing “Jungle Book” screened it in 3D. A healthy 43 percent of the movie’s opening-weekend sales came from 3D tickets. It was also playing on 376 IMAX screens, good for $10.4 million, amounting to 10 percent of the total gross, and scoring another April record for a Disney feature.

    And there were 463 Premium Large Format screens, for those willing to pay extra to see “Jungle Book” on a giant screen that’s not quite as eye-filling as IMAX. You could also see the film in D-Box, where your theater seat lurches in response to the on-screen action. Surcharges for those tickets can be as much as $8, meaning Disney was ensured to mint money on this film wherever people saw it.

    3. Timing
    Remember when the summer movie season began on Memorial Day? No? Remember when it began on May 1? Well, now, thanks to hits like “Winter Soldier,” “Furious 7,” and now, “Jungle Book,” summer seemingly begins just after spring break. Or it will within a couple of years. For now, however, April is still clear enough of blockbusters that a movie like “Jungle Book” can pretty much have the month to itself.

    4. Weak Competition
    This weekend’s crop of new releases posed no real threat to “Jungle Book’s” box office reign. Neither of this weekend’s other two new wide releases opened on more than 2,700 screens, compared to 4,028 for “Jungle Book.” “Barbershop: The Next Cut,” a sequel in a comedy franchise whose last installment came out 12 years ago, debuted in second place with an estimated $20.2 million. That’s below expectations and also shy of the $24.2 million opening weekend for 2004’s “Barbershop 2: Back in Business.” (“Cut” came in with less than the opening weekend of the original film.)

    As for Kevin Costner‘s new thriller, “Criminal,” no one expected it to do more than about $8 million, but it fell short with $5.9 million. It didn’t even make the top five. Opening in sixth place, it is Costner’s lowest premiere weekend since since 2005’s “Rumor Has It.”

    5. Four-quadrant Audience Appeal
    One potential weakness in “Jungle Book” — had Disney stayed close to the 1967 cartoon — is that it’s an awfully male-oriented story, with no female characters of any significance, or even speaking parts. Favreau and his team changed that by making one male character (the python Kaa) female and boosting the role of another (Mowgli’s wolf mother, Raksha.) Scarlett Johansson voices Kaa (above), and Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o voices Raksha. Making the movie more inclusive seems to have paid off at the box office, since Disney exit polling showed that 51 percent of the viewers were female.

    Favreau and his team also made sure the movie appealed to more than just kids. Celebrity voices (including Bill Murray and Chistopher Walken), an air of real danger in Mowgli’s confrontations with predators, and nostalgic shout-outs to the original cartoon (including such songs as “Bare Necessities” and “I Wan’na Be Like You”) all helped to draw grown-up viewers. According to Disney, some 43 percent of ticketbuyers were adults seeing the movie on their own.

    Of course, what ultimately sold the movie was its execution. Critics raved, giving “Jungle Book” a 95 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences loved it just as much, judging by the A CinemaScore, indicating very positive word-of-mouth. So: a good movie will draw audiences of all ages and both sexes off their couches and into the theaters — and even inspire them to pay extra for an enhanced viewing experience. Who knew?

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  • Why Disney’s Live-Action ‘Jungle Book’ Has Deep Roots in ‘Bambi,’ ‘Lion King’

    Premiere Of Disney's "The Jungle Book" - ArrivalsIn anticipation of Disney‘s live-action adaptation of “The Jungle Book,” Moviefone had the opportunity to chat with director Jon Favreau about what inspired him to re-imagine the beloved animated classic.

    Opening this Friday, Favreau’s movie takes us back into the jungle with Mowgli and friends using cutting-edge technology that renders an incredible, photo-realistic world in 3D. When you see it, you’ll be shocked by the knowledge that “The Jungle Book” was shot entirely in Downtown Los Angeles using practical sets and Dolby vision laser projection. In other words, if you thought movies like “Avatar” and “Life of Pi” looked amazing, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

    We also get some of what we love from the original musical Walt Disney production but fit to reflect the time and outfitted with a stellar voice cast. Newcomer Neel Sethi plays Mowgli and is joined by Sir Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha), Bill Murray (Baloo), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Giancarlo Esposito (Akilah) and Christopher Walken (King Louie).

    With all of this in mind, we couldn’t wait to talk to Favreau about raising the bar on visual storytelling using a tried and proven method: the Walt Disney way.

    Moviefone: What I took away the most from your take on “The Jungle Book” was just how steeped in Walt Disney’s philosophy for storytelling it was. You did what he did with fairy tales and the classic Kipling story to create a new take on a beloved movie. How did you go about mining the core of the original film’s narrative to build your own vision?

    Jon Favreau: You just can’t make the movie exactly like the old one. It wouldn’t work live-action, so we had to make some changes to it. Hopefully, we honored the legacy of the original one enough that you feel satisfied if you’re expecting that, but yet you’re seeing something that goes further in some ways.

    Enough people who love Disney have seen it that I feel comfortable that we didn’t at least put them off — that we didn’t do our homework and embrace the original. That was an important film for me.THE JUNGLE BOOK (Pictured) MOWGLI and BALOO. ©2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.When tackling this project, what helped you focus on the story you wanted to tell as you researched the original?

    It’s interesting because it’s not like going back to the original movie unlocked all those puzzles. The trick that I had done on “Iron Man” that had worked pretty well was: the first thing I do is try to remember and brainstorm for the images and the things I remember most clearly because if it sits clearly in your memory it’s probably been prioritized and is most important. And so “Bare Necessities” was a big one, and “I Wanna Be Like You,” King Louie and the crumbling temple, and Kaa with his hypnotic eyes, and the boy being woozy, and me being scared. And then floating down the river and singing, and Shere Khan and the torch, and the elephants and the baby elephant.

    I make a big list of all that stuff, and then I look at the materials because, when you watch it fresh, you’ll connect with different things. I wanted to make sure to include all those images that I had connected to. And then I actually took a lot of cues from the way the plot unfolds the story because that was actually well done. Walt’s a great story man, and that was very different from the book. We looked at the books, too, to get inspiration. Certain things the books were better at. I like the treatment of the elephants in the books. I like the treatment of Ikki, the porcupine, I liked Raksha, the mother. So I kinda pick and choose between the two. I think me being such a fan of the material and connecting with it gave me confidence that my instincts were going to be the instincts of others like me.

    With that wealth of information, how did you tread through it and not let it overwhelm your vision for “The Jungle Book”?

    They say a book is like designing a boat, and a screenplay is like designing an airplane. It has to lift. Once you hit the end of that runway, the thing has to take off. And if it doesn’t fly under its own engineering, it falls apart. So there are certain rules you have to stick by. You have to keep the pace at a certain rhythm, you have to have the right mixture of emotion and tone, and once you lock into that you could get clues from other movies. Honestly, as much as we looked at “Jungle Book,” we looked at “Bambi,” we looked at “Pinocchio,” we looked at “The Lion King.” For the PG version, we made, there were more clues in those films than there were in “The Jungle Book” for how to present it, because we always found ourselves tonally: a little too young, a little too humorous. So whenever we brought in a musical element or a humorous element from the original, we found ourselves really having to be careful that we didn’t trip up the whole film.THE JUNGLE BOOK (Pictured) BAGHEERA and MOWGLI. ©2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.On a recent trip to the old Ink and Paint building over at Walt Disney Studios, I saw a multi-plane shadowbox for the opening scene of “Bambi,” which I immediately thought of during the opening of your film in its composition.

    We looked at that shot. We looked at the opening of “Bambi” because back, when he was doing Bambi, Walt was still flushed with success and revenue from “Snow White,” which was a huge hit and, unfortunately, over Walt’s career, they were operating to diminishing returns from that point on. But Walt was so passionate that he would convince Roy, his brother, to give him the resources and the people that he needed. “Bambi” was really the one where he wanted to raise the bar like they were able to do in “Snow White” and that was his labor of love for many, many years.

    I don’t know if he was ever fully satisfied with the version that came out judging from the notes that I had read, because the studio was coming into a lot of other challenges. I think the war was coming on or the strike. I think it was the strike for that film, and there was definitely a version of the film he was going for and what was nice is that he got stenographers keeping notes of all their story sessions. On the Blu-ray of “Bambi,” you hear them talking about how they were gonna make the animals look photo-real, and the tone of the performance vs. how cartooney they were in “Snow White,” how realistic they were presenting them, and the way there were gonna show the photo-real backgrounds, and how they would stylize things. And the way they would treat the hunter, and the way they would treat the weather. Hearing it in his read-back transcript, it was almost like having him available to us. And he really was wrestling with a lot of things people wrestle with today. Certainly, we did.

    So we drew inspiration looking at the shots. The beauty of the shots in “Bambi” were unsurpassed by the time we got to the ’67 “Jungle Book” film. Although character animation was still hitting a high watermark because you had the Nine Old Men around. I think most if not all of them were still around for the animated emotional moments. You didn’t have the same lushness of the multi-plane, nearly the amount of artists designing a project like this. And, although it was a big success for them financially, it wasn’t embraced in the same way the films like “Snow White” were in its day. So I think by trying to channel the entire Disney legacy and then also “The Lion King,” which came afterwards (that was affected very much by “The Jungle Book” if you hear the animators of that one speak). I think that one was essential in having fun musical moments but also having scary moments, where characters are in serious danger.

    And taking cues from Walt there makes so much sense, it immerses you in Mowgli’s world, with its practical and CGI surroundings.

    He used to do that with his “Alice” and old “Laugh-O-Gram” stuff by having a live-action girl in an illustrated world. It was something he was first drawn to. So yeah, we really tried to honor the legacy but tried to do something new and exciting that just stands on its own two feet.

    We’ve got to talk casting; this is an incredible ensemble. What inspired you to approach the talent attached to the film?

    That’s a big part of my job. You know Walt Disney in “The Jungle Book” was the only time he did celebrity casting because those people were famous back then before the film, so I think it gave me permission to go after higher people like Christopher Walken or Idris Elba.

    Loved the cowbell reference by the way. So meta!THE JUNGLE BOOK - (Pictured) MOWGLI and KING LOUIE ©2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Did you catch it? I’m so glad it’s in there. That was an on-set discovery. That was a prop in the background that I pulled and I said, “Oh my god, this is what Mowgli has to use. I knew he had to touch something that would get the attention of King Louie and I saw the cowbell off to the side and I pulled that in and swapped it out for the prop that we had designed for it.

    Awesome. Sorry, back to casting…

    With Christopher Walken and Bill Murray, I let them really be themselves and be recognizable through the characters. I think that was part of what made the original special as well.

    Disney’s “The Jungle Book” opens Friday, April 15th.

  • 5 Things You Need to Know Before Seeing Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’

    Disney’s latest live-action update of one of its classic animated features is “The Jungle Book.” But don’t expect just a shiny CG update of the 1967 cartoon that turned Rudyard Kipling’s fierce beasts into mostly adorable, toy-ready critters. For one thing, if you’ve seen the trailers, you know this new version features some impressive-looking animals, speaking with the voices of some impressive stars. For another thing, its director is Jon Favreau, who helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Iron Man.”

    Favreau and Disney clearly wanted to make something more than just a retread of the studio’s 1967 cartoon — or Disney’s 1994 live-action version. Judging by the 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, they’ve pulled it off. Here are five things you need to know before entering the “Jungle.”

    1. Think ‘Avatar,’ Only Earthbound
    The James Cameron epic is a movie Favreau has name-checked often in describing the exotic, immersive, 3D forest world he’s tried to create here. From its setting to its jungle animals, Favreau’s film is almost completely CGI — except, of course, for Neel Sethi, the 12-year-old New York native who plays wild boy Mowgli.

    Favreau and his effects team shot the whole film on stages in downtown Los Angeles, digitally added lush vegetation, and populated it with creatures based on the appearances and movements of real animals — but given an artistic flourish by digital animators. Imagine the CGI tiger in “Life of Pi,” except that he’s moving his lips as Idris Elba’s (above) menacing voice emerges from his mouth.

    2. This Is No Cartoon
    The generally-lighthearted 1967 cartoon wasn’t especially faithful to the source material. Favreau has said his film delves deeper into the Kipling stories, which means the animals are more savage and the danger to Mowgli is greater. Elba’s tiger Shere Khan is reportedly one of the scariest screen villains since — well, Elba’s warlord in “Beasts of No Nation.” No wonder some critics are calling the film a kiddie “Revenant.”

    3. It’s Not Just a Guy Thing
    Favreau decided that the cartoon, populated almost exclusively by male characters, needed more feminine presences. So Kaa the Python got a sex change; she’s voiced by Scarlett Johansson (pictured). Interestingly, in “Jungle Book: Origins,” Andy Serkis‘ upcoming 2017 take on the same public-domain Kipling stories, which will also mix live-action actors and motion-capture animals, Kaa will be female as well, voiced by Cate Blanchett.

    Favreau also beefed up the role of Raksha, the wolf mother who adopts Mowgli. She doesn’t even speak in the cartoon, but here, she’s voiced by no less a luminary than Lupita Nyong’o.

    4. The Animals Are Zoologically Correct
    Well, except for the whole talking thing. But at least Baloo (Bill Murray) is now more obviously a sloth bear, a mammal native to India, than the generic bear of the cartoon. Alas, there are no orangutans in India, so King Louie (Christopher Walken) is now a Gigantopithecus (pictured), an orangutan-like ape that is now extinct but which did once live in India.

    5. Don’t Worry, Your Favorite Songs Are Still Here
    Darker tone aside, Favreau made sure to keep some of the cartoon’s comic-relief moments, as is apparent by the casting of Murray and Walken. (The late Garry Shandling is here, too, as a nervous porcupine.)

    Baloo does get to sing “Bare Necessities” and Louie still sings “I Wan’na Be Like You.” Richard M. Sherman, who wrote that song’s lyrics 50 years ago, has updated the words for the new film. And Kaa still delivers the hypnotic “Trust in Me” — though, instead of Sterling Holloway’s Winnie-the-Pooh bluster, the snake now purrs the words in Johansson’s seductive, unsettling rasp.

    “Jungle Book” hits theaters Friday.

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