A live-action Jungle Book reboot is inching forward at Disney. Rudyard Kipling’s collection of fables has been adapted many times before, although its best known iteration is Disney’s own 1967 animation about a young “man cub” named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian wilds. Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li, Hack/Slash) has been hired to script the adaptation, which is still early in development stages. Marks was previously tapped by the Mouse House to rewrite their 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. He is repped by CAA, Madhouse Entertainment and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman. Meanwhile, Disney isn’t alone in the Jungle Book game: A 3D animated version from India-based animation house DQ Entertainment Ireland Ltd. is in the works, along with WB’s competing live-action project written and directed by Steve Kloves. Also, a new stage musical that reimagines the 1967 film and Kipling’s book debuted July 1 in Chicago.
Justin Marks To Adapt Live-Action ‘Jungle Book’ Reboot At Disney
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Way to go Disney. You really know how to hire talent. I smell another LONE RANGER / JOHN CARTER here, with both JUNGLE BOOK and 20,000 LEAGUES.
Only the force will save you now, Mouse House.
Admittedly, you would expect Disney’s recruitment process to be more sophisticated than the typical “MUST have previous experience in a similar-sized project” ads that appear in ordinary classifieds. That said, did anyone want to see Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li? Personally, I thought Avengers Assemble was a terrible movie but whoever wrote that screenplay made box office gold. I guess it is all in the choice of subject.
You realize that terrible movies often start with good scripts. Unless you have read a couple of Marks’ scripts you have no idea if he is a good or bad writer. There are a shit ton of people and decisions that are made way way way after that script gets green lit.
Are Disney trying to fail? Terrible screenwriter equals great screenplay to them??? Let me guess, the budget will be 150mil.
Brian helgeland started writing horror schlock.
How much say do you think a first time screenwriter has on their first movie?
The commenters that rip a writer based on one credit are wannabe morons who don’t understand this business at all.
Go write your screenplay.
With Disney having so much money and basically having choice of any screenwriter, you are saying it’s better to take a chance on a screenwriter who’s had a flop, where the critics killed it, rather than actually go after a talented writer who’s either had films that have made money or at least critically hailed?
Can you please explain that to me like I’m a 6 year old?
This is same old Hollywood thinking writing doesn’t matter, which leads to flops like The Lone Ranger and John Carter.
Brian Helgeland has just as many bad movies as he does good ones. And you’re right, he began his career with Freddy IV.
Maybe they can hire Stephen Sommers to direct, and have, say Jason Scott Lee play Mowgli? Round out the cast by adding Lena Headey and Sam Niell.
I think everyone’s schedules are pretty open and flexible. Get crackin’ Disney.
Fact: Street Fighter cost 18mm soup-to-nuts, not 50mm. After foreign presales it was in the black. The 8mm domestic BO paid back Fox’s crappy 4mm marketing dump. That’s the bottom line on that.
They did this in 1994 & it was OK. Go home Disney you’e drunk.
But that’s Hollywood – and, especially, Disney – did it once, twice, thrice . . . let’s do it again!
I just read marks’ universal project ‘Raven’ for actor suggestions and it was awesome.
And he’s such a fan of Deadline, too!
Congratulations, Disney, for having the courage to continue to gamble on fresh ideas. 100-year-old sci-fi stories (John Carter) and 60-year-old TV shows (Lone Ranger) have paid off, so it must be time to resdicitate a 100-year-old jungle adventure.
Not only that but this is brilliant because Disney made the cartoon, then remade it live-action in 1994. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, it’s almost 20 years old, it’s ripe for another remake.
Loved Justin’s work on SUPERMAX…. very excited for him.
Screenwriters have very little say in how their scripts are produced. Therefore, writers are frequently hired on the strength of unproduced material. Of which Justin has many of.
Look — Disney would rather have Scott Frank or Zaillian writing THE JUNGLE BOOK. That’s not gonna happen. But they still need someone with experience who is also available. That’s how writers get hired.
This is the dumbest waste of money ever. They could re-release the 1994 version next year for the 20th Anniversary and it would do very well. To spend money for another remake is the height of stupidity and typical of big studio mentality. They are dinosaurs stuck in the tar pits soon to go the way of the dinosaurs.
Lucas and Spielberg were right about big movies crashing and burning. The faster the studios go out of business the better it will be for everyone else. John Carter and Battleship last year now we have After Earth, White House Down, Lone Ranger and soon Pacific Rim. That’s four big expensive flops in one summer thus fulfilling the prediction of Lucas and Spielberg.
You trolls are idiots.
hey “Keep up the great choices”
GO F yourself.
Thanks.