'The Jungle Book' inches towards the Rs 200 crore mark - Disney contemplates a sequel

'The Jungle Book' is inching closer to the Rs 200 crore mark and Disney contemplates a sequel. A film by Hollywood filmmaker Jon Favreau, 'The Jungle Book' has Indian-American actor Neel Sethi in the lead role of Mowgli and has gelled well with the Indian audiences. It was released on 8 April and in the 50 days since its release in India it has minted over Rs 180 crores. The movie brings an enchanting story of a boy straight from an Indian jungle.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 27 May 2016.

It has been confirmed by Disney that 'The Jungle Book' had amassed Rs.2.56 crore in its seventh week, taking the cumulative total to Rs.183.94 crore (nett box office collection). Mowgli has made India one of the top four internationally performing markets for the movie.
Incidentally, while most Hindi films struggle to complete three or four weeks, ‘The Jungle Book’ has enters week eight. It was released in India in four languages — English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Bollywood stars Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Nana Patekar, Shefali Shah and Om Puri have lent their voices for the Hindi version of the movie.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Disney has drawn up plans to release live-action fairy tales in December 2017, April 2018 and December 2019 but, it has not disclosed which film has been allocated which slot. It also will release live-action movies in August and December 2018. It has returned to the classic fairy tales in recent years because they are money-spinners - films like Alice In Wonderland, Cinderella and Maleficent have made a combined $2.5bn. Now, movies like Alice Through The Looking Glass and Beauty And The Beast, with Emma Watson, will fill the cinemas.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 26 April 2016.

Moreover, Disney has confirmed that Emily Blunt will star in a Mary Poppins sequel and Emma Stone will be seen in Cruella which is supposed to be a 101 Dalmations spin-off. Disney has also announced nine new live-action films and most of these are inspired by its animated back catalogue.
Incidentally, Emily Blunt had been linked to the Poppins sequel in September - it would be a new tale set around 20 years after the original and would be based on the books by creator PL Travers.
Disney has also indicated that Angelina Jolie will reprise her role as Maleficent in a sequel to 2014's hit Sleeping Beauty spin-off and, considering the huge popularity of The Jungle Book, director Jon Favreau has confirmed that Mowgli would be back in a second film.


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Jon Favreau, the director of 'The Jungle Book', enjoys Indian cuisine

Jon Favreau, the director of “The Jungle Book” has been won over by 'desi’ Indian flavors and aromas thanks to the film’s lead star Neel Sethi’s mother preparing a “home cooked Indian feast” for him. The director is overwhelmed and has said that if he plans to make “Chef 2”, he would love to include Indian cuisine in it.
Jon Favreau is well known globally as the director of “Iron Man” and “Chef” and the meal he had was the Indian spread that included biryani, naan and aloo gobi.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 8 April 2016.

Neel is an Indian-American boy with roots tracing back to Punjab and he portrays the role of Mowgli in the fantasy adventure film. In the Disney’s “The Jungle Book”, Favreau has re-imagined the world of an enchanting Indian jungle, the story of which was first told via Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 timeless classic and then brought alive in the eponymous 1967 animated movie.
The film is supported by a stellar cast that includes Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken. Its Hindi dubbed version is voiced by a string of popular Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Irrfan Khan.


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Frieda Pinto talks about 'Jungle Book - Origins'

Frieda Pinto is fascinated by the characters created by Rudyard Kipling’s timeless classic. She had become popular after her movie “Slumdog Millionaire” which shot her to stardom and she is now excited to be a part of “Jungle Book: Origins”. As she says - her life has come full circle with the Hollywood project.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 18 March 2016.

Freida is slated to be the voice of Mowgli’s adoptive mother in the Warner Brothers’ motion capture live-action adventure adaptation of “The Jungle Book”, based on the novel by Kipling. And, in her opinion, the film is worth the wait because it will release in 2017.
She remembers watching it on Doordarshan every Sunday and life comes a full circle because she will be a part of such a project. It will be directed by Andy Serkis, who also gives voice to friendly bear Baloo and, the cast includes names like Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Indian-American child actor Rohan Chand who will be seen as Mowgli.


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