Disney recently announced that Academy Award winner The Dead Zone‘s Christopher Walken will play King Louie while Revolution‘s Giancarlo Esposito will play Akela, and the previously confirmed cast includes Academy Award winners Iron Man 3 baddie Ben Kingsley and Star Wars: Episode VII‘s Lupita Nyong’o as Bagheera and Raksha, respectively; Golden Globe winner Pacific Rim‘s Idris Elba as Shere Khan; Avengers: Age of Ultron‘s Scarlett Johansson as Kaa; and newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli.
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The Jungle Book is a combination of live-action and animation, directed by Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau from a script by Justin Marks. The film will be released in 3D and arrives in theaters on October 9, 2015.
In the 1967 animated classic, Baloo was voiced by Phil Harris, who would also star in Robin Hood and on The Love Boat and F Troop. Murray has done voice work in the past for Garfield, The Fantastic Mister Fox, a Ghostbusters video game and, soon, B.O.O.: The Bureau of Otherworldly Operations.
