Bill Murray to play Baloo in new ‘Jungle Book’ movie
By Josh Haggis
Bill Murray has joined the cast of Disney’s new The Jungle Book movie.
Murray will provide the voice of Baloo the Bear in the forthcoming live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic collection of children’s stories.
Famously, the much-loved character sang The Bare Necessities with Mowgli in Disney’s earlier animated adaptation of The Jungle Book, which came out in 1967.
The new film, helmed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau, will feature actors interacting with CGI animals, and boasts a bumper ensemble cast including Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o and Idris Elba. The role of Mowgli will be played by ten-year-old newcomer Neel Sethi.
The new film is set for release on October 9, 2015.
Meanwhile, the first trailer for Disney’s forthcoming movie-musical Into the Woods starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp and Chris Pine was released earlier this week – click here to watch it.