A brand new trailer for Mowgli has just dropped. This comes to us directly from San Diego Comic-Con, where Warner Bros. first debuted the trailer during their panel at the event. They decided not to make those of us at home wait to see the new footage and they released it online just after its debut in Hall H. This movie may be fighting an uphill battle, but what we’ve seen so far is, at the very least, visually impressive. But will that be enough to make it a success?
Mowgli comes from director Andy Serkis, best known for his motion capture work in The Lord of the Rings and the Planet of the Apes trilogy. Unfortunately for Serkis, this was just an example of poor timing. This take on author Rudyard Kipling’s beloved story was filmed some time ago, but Disney beat them to the punch with Jon Favreau’s very well-received and groundbreaking The Jungle Book in 2016. The movie went on to gross nearly $1 billion worldwide and, no matter how you slice it, took the wind of this project’s sails. At one point, this was going to be released as Jungle Book: Origins, but the studio did their best to try and differentiate this movie at least a bit with its title.
This particular movie follows the upbringing of the human child Mowgli, raised by a wolf pack in the jungles of India. As he learns the often harsh rules of the jungle, under the tutelage of a bear named Baloo and a panther named Bagheera, Mowgli becomes accepted by the animals of the jungle as one of their own. All but one: the fearsome tiger Shere Khan. But there may be greater dangers lurking in the jungle, as the child comes face to face with his human origins. Does that sound more than a little familiar to anyone? Familiar as the story may be, there is a fantastic cast behind this take on the classic tale. The cast includes Oscar winner Christian Bale as Bagheera, Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as Kaa, Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Oscar nominee Naomie Harris as Nisha, Jack Reynor as Wolf, Eddie Marsan as Vihaan and Andy Serkis as Baloo. The human cast features, Matthew Rhys as Lockwood, Freida Pinto as Messua and young actor Rohan Chand as the titular character the story centers itself on.
Mowgli is set to arrive in theaters on October 19. In that release date, it’s set to go up against the new Halloween, which has a lot of hype going for it. Michael Myers also hasn’t appeared on screen for nearly a decade, which certainly works in that movie’s favor. That could make it tough for this darker take on The Jungle Book to top the box office that weekend. In any case, be sure to check out the brand new trailer, courtesy of Warner Bros. straight from SDCC, for yourself below.
