Director Jon Favreau unveiled the first trailer for Disney’s “The Jungle Book” and brought stars Lupita Nyong’o, Ben Kingsley and newcomer Neel Sethi onstage at Saturday’s D23 Fan Expo in Anaheim.
Sethi plays the film’s young hero Mowgli, while Kingsley plays Bagheera the Panther and Nyong’o plays Raksha the Wolf. Favreau played up the eye-popping visual spectacle of the film, saying that “The best CGI is the CGI that disappears.”
Favreau revealed the film’s first poster and said they’d be giving out copies to fans after the presentation. After Favreau joked he didn’t have any footage ready, Sean Bailey asked him to look within his heart for a glimpse and Favreau obliged.
The trailer opens with the smoky voice of Scarlett Johansson’s Kaa the Python talking about the Red Flower, which brings “warmth, light and destruction.”
Bagheera finds Mowgli and we’re told that “the jungle is no longer safe. I’ll return him to where he belongs.”
We see Idris Elba’s killer tiger Shere Khan stalking Mowgli through the outback in a thrilling sequence that ends with him jumping off a cliff, after which he’s discovered by Bill Murray’s Baloo the Bear. Baloo tells Mowgli to “relax” and that “there’s no need to get worked up.” Then he sings the classic Disney song “Bare Necessities,” a song about “the good life,” though Mowgli confesses he doesn’t know what a song is.
“Everyone’s got a song,” Baloo assures him.
As the trailer nears its end, we see Shere Khan warning Mowgli that “if you come back, I’ll be waiting,” then the footage concludes with Christopher Walken’s orangutan King Louie saying “I am the king!” — which brought the house down.
The footage, which was stunning and full of wonder, earned a standing ovation before Bailey brought out Mia Wasikowska for the “Alice Through the Looking Glass” presentation.
Sethi appeared overwhelmed during his first major public appearance, but won the crowd over with his wide-eyed enthusiasm and budding movie-star smile.
Nyong’o was making her first visit to Disneyland, which was one of the things on her mother’s dream board for her family. Nyong’o didn’t work directly with Sethi, but said she has seen glimpses of his performance and found it quite moving.
Kingsley quoted an oft-repeated showbiz line that it’s never a good idea to work with children or animals, but then joked: “I worked with a child and I played an animal and I would say, anytime. You have my number.”
27 Movie-to-TV Remakes in the Works: Hollywood's Big Screen to Small Screen Craze (Photos)
"American Gigolo" – Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming once again for a television adaptation of the Richard Gere crime movie.
Paramount Pictures
“The Mortal Instruments” – Using Cassandra Clare’s young adult novel series, the television project will pick up where the first film left off. Ed Decter is attached to run the show, with production starting in 2015.
Sony Pictures
“Bachelor Party” – ABC has brought over “New Girl” writers J.J. Philbin and Josh Malmuth to rewrite the Fox comedy flick.
Twentieth Century Fox
“The Illusionist” - The CW is bringing the 2006 film to TV with a script by Mark Hudis, who was nominated for an Emmy for "Nurse Jackie."
Contagious Entertainment
“In Good Company” - CBS and Universal are teaming for the television project. Josh Bycel and Jon Fenner wrote the pilot script but Paul Weitz, who wrote and directed the movie, is also involved.
Universal Pictures
“Shooter” – TNT has hired John Hlavin to write the script for the drama adaptation.
Paramount Pictures
“Monster-In-Law” - Amy R Harris (The Carrie Diaries) and John Riggi (30 Rock) are writing the multi-camera project for Warner Bros. TV.
New Line Cinema
“12 Monkeys” – The SyFy series has received a 13-episode order starring Aaron Stanford, Emily Hampshire and Tom Noonan. The show premieres in January 2015.
Universal Pictures
“Big” - Kevin Biegel and Mike Royce are executive producing and writing for 20th Century Fox Television.
20th Century Fox
“Uncle Buck” – CBS adapted the movie for a 1990 television series that lasted one season. Now ABC is trying its luck with Steven Cragg and Brian Badley writing.
Universal Pictures
“Phantom of the Opera” – Marc Cherry is developing the drama for ABC, providing his own take on the Gaston Leroux novel.
Warner Bros. Pictures
“Problem Child” – NBC has hired Scot Armstrong, writer of “Old School” and “The Hangover” to adapt the comedy.
Universal Pictures
“The Truman Show” – Paramount is developing but no production has started and the individuals involved have yet to be named.
Paramount Pictures
“Shutter Island” – Martin Scorsese will return to direct the pilot for HBO and Paramount that will be called, “Ashecliffe” and tell the story before the events of the Leonarado DiCaprio film. A full series order has already been ordered with Dennis Lehane writing.
Paramount Pictures
“Ghost” – Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner are teaming to retell the Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore 1990 hit film for Paramount TV.
Paramount Pictures
“Hitch” – Executive produced by Will Smith, with a script from Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, the dating guru reboot is possibly coming to Fox.
Columbia Pictures
“Rush Hour” - Bill Lawrence and Blake McCormick, who previously paired on “Cougar Town,” are writing and executing producing the remake of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s hit flick.
New Line Cinema
“Marley & Me” – Despite the conclusive ending, the film is being developed for the small screen by 20th Century Fox TV.
20th Century Fox
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” - DHX Media and Sony Pictures are bringing the hit animated film franchise to the small screen.
Columbia Pictures
“Scream” – The hit horror flick franchise moves to MTV with an original script from Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin. Willa Fitzgerald, Amy Forsyth, John Karna, Carlson Young and Amadeus Serafini are all set to star but the Ghostface killer will not be a feature for the television project.
Dimension Films
“Underworld” - Len Wiseman, who wrote and directed all four “Underworld” films, is said to be involved on the TV project.
Screen Gems
“School of Rock” – Nickelodeon ordered “School of Rock” straight to series with Tony Cavalero taking the lead role from Jack Black. Jim and Steve Armogida will executive produce and write.
Paramount Pictures
“The Devil's Advocate” - John Wells and Arnold Kopelson serve as producers with Matt Venne writing the first script for NBC.
Warner Bros. Pictures
“In the Heat of the Night” – The 1967 film has already spawned an NBC series that ran for seven seasons between 1988 and 1995. The new reboot comes from MGM Television and Showtime, written and directed by Tate Taylor.
United Artists
“Westworld” – Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden will star in the HBO drama pilot based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film about a problematic amusement park.
MGM
“Real Genius” – Being rebooted by NBC, the project comes from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment.
TriStar Pictures
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Hollywood’s latest obsession kicks into overdrive
"American Gigolo" – Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming once again for a television adaptation of the Richard Gere crime movie.