Benedict Cumberbatch To Voice Shere Khan In The Jungle Book

Sherlock and Star Trek: Into Darkness star Benedict Cumberbatch will voice the villainous tiger Shere Khan in Warner Bros. upcoming adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, according The Hollywood Reporter.

Cumberbatch has been working his voice acting magic as Smaug and the Necromancer in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Andy Serkis, who did motion capture on The Hobbit films, will make his directorial debut with The Jungle Book.

Warner Bros. is competing with Disney, who is also working on an adaptation of The Jungle Book. Thor and Pacific Rim's Idris Elba has signed on to voice Shere Khan in Disney's film.

No release date for Warner Bros. The Jungle Book has been set, as of yet.