Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley has been cast as the voice of Bagheera, the black panther in Disney’s upcoming The Jungle Book. Directed by Jon Favreau from a script by Justin Marks, The Jungle Book combines live action and animated filmmaking. It arrives in theaters in 3D on October 9, 2015.
The original book was published in 1894 and includes, among a number of other animal-themed stories, the classic tales of an Indian boy named Mowgli, who is raised by wolves and lives among the other animals in the jungle.
Idris Elba is voicing the tiger Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson is the voice of the python Kaa, and Lupita Nyong’o will voice Rakcha, Mowgli’s adopted wolf mother.
Disney previously released an animated version of the film in 1967 and another live-action film in 1994.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
