Andy Serkis' MOWGLI Moves To Netflix; Now Expected For A 2019 Release
Warner Bros. has sold the worldwide rights to the Andy Serkis-directed Mowgli to Netflix, meaning it will no longer open in theaters this October and will launch on the streaming giant sometime next year.
In a surprising development, Netflix has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Mowgli, Andy Serkis' much darker take on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, from Warner Bros. for an undisclosed sum.
The film was previously slated to hit theaters on October 19, but has now been removed from WB's release schedule and will debut on the streaming giant sometime next year. There will also be a theatrical release of some sort to coincide with the film's streaming debut, so that audiences can experience the 3D version of the film that Serkis is in the midst of completing.
Speaking on the move, Serkis tells Deadline, “What excites me most is the forward thinking at Netflix in how to present this, and the message of the movie. They understand this is a darker telling that doesn’t fit it into a four quadrant slot. It’s really not meant for young kids, though I think it’s possible that 10 or above can watch it. It was always meant to be PG-13, and this allows us to go deeper, with darker themes, to be scary and frightening in moments. The violence between animals is not gratuitous, but it’s definitely there. This way of going allows us to get the film out without compromise.”
Blending live action and performance capture, the story follows the upbringing of the human child Mowgli (Rohan Chand) raised by a wolf pack in the jungles of India. As he learns the often-harsh rules of the jungle, under the tutelage of a bear named Baloo (Andy Serkis) and a panther named Bagheera (Christian Bale), Mowgli becomes accepted by the animals of the jungle as one of their own. All but one: the fearsome tiger Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch). But there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle, as Mowgli comes face to face with his human origins. The other story's central animal characters are: Kaa, the snake (Cate Blanchett); the leader of the wolf pack, Akela (Peter Mullan); the scavenging hyena, Tabaqui (Tom Hollander); Nisha, the female wolf (Naomie Harris), who adopts the baby Mowgli as one of her cubs; Nisha's mate, Vihaan (Eddie Marsan); and Mowgli's Brother Wolf (Jack Reynor).
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