Netflix and Andy Serkis bring ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle’ tale to life in new trailer

The long-awaited Mowgli film from actor/director Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes, Breathe) is arriving with a new title, a new release date and a theatrical run ahead of its Netflix premiere. 

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, as it’s now known, has had a rocky road getting to this point. The film began production talks at Warner Bros. back in 2012 with principal photography beginning under director Andy Serkis in 2015. The film was set for a fall 2016 release but numerous delays, from perfecting visual effects to WB wanting to distance itself from Disney’s own Jungle Book reboot (which won the Visual Effects Oscar), the film changed hands this summer when Netflix bought the rights to the theatrical and streaming presentation.

Today arrives a new chapter and a new trailer of the classic Rudyard Kipling tale that stars the award-winning voice talents of Oscar winners Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Oscar nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Naomie Harris, Emmy winner Matthew Rhys, Screen Actors Guild winner Freida Pinto and Serkis himself.

Official synopsis:

Acclaimed actor and director Andy Serkis reinvents Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece, in which a boy torn between two worlds accepts his destiny and becomes a legend. Mowgli (Rohan Chand) has never truly belonged in either the wilds of the jungle or the civilized world of man. Now he must navigate the inherent dangers of each on a journey to discover where he truly belongs. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris lead an all-star cast along with newcomer Rohan Chand in this visually spectacular and emotionally moving adventure.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle will have exclusive limited theatrical engagements starting November 29th in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and London, continuing Netflix’s efforts to offer their films to a traditional theatrical audience before its streaming debut.  The film will then be released globally on Netflix on December 7th and will have an expanded theatrical release in additional theaters in the U.S. and UK.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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