Disney was so confident in The Jungle Book before its publication that they stated they were already working on a sequel.
They were justified in their optimism, as Jon Favreau’s live-action adaptation of the iconic Disney animated feature, based on Rudyard Kipling’s novel of the same name, earned rave reviews and grossed $966.6 million at the box office.
We doubt that The Jungle Book 2 will be a live-action recreation of the animation sequel, so what can we anticipate from the film?
The Jungle Book 2 Release Date
Initially, Favreau wanted to embark on a sequel following The Lion King, with the film scheduled to be released in 2018.
Of course, it did not happen since Favreau chose to focus on completing The Lion King and not work on two films concurrently. The Lion King is scheduled to open in theaters on July 19, which means Favreau might begin production on The Jungle Book 2 later this year.
However, as he explained to Collider in December 2016, the film’s photorealistic CGI is a “slow process.”
“Rushing things is not a smart idea since when people respond negatively to visual effects, it is frequently because they were rushed.”
Therefore, even if he does begin work on it this year, do not anticipate a sequel in 2020. Fortunately, Disney has a slew of “Live-Action” film release dates for 2021, and beyond that, it can fit into.
The Jungle Book 2 Plot
While Favreau has been hard at work on The Lion King, returning writer Justin Marks has teased the sequel’s approach.
“In the second film, the aim is to delve further into the Kipling and some of the Disney resources from the 1967 picture that didn’t make it into the first film,” he explained to Slash Film.
“When it comes to Bill Peet’s work on the original picture, most of which was discarded by Walt Disney, Jon and I dug deep into the Disney archives to examine some of the concepts. We were like, ‘Wait a minute, that’s an excellent concept. That is an absolute need for the picture’. As a result, we’ve constructed it in this manner.”
Of course, much of the original Kipling stories have not yet been seen on screen, just as the first film presented stories not included in the animation.
Could the sequel include Mowgli in the world of men?
The Jungle Book 2 Cast
We won’t know the sequel’s cast until Favreau begins working on it in earnest, but Neel Sethi should return as Mowgli… as long as he hasn’t grown up too much.
The voice cast should remain the same as long as their characters return, which means Bill Murray will reprise his role as Baloo, Ben Kingsley will reprise his role as Bagheera, and Lupita Nyong’o will reprise her role as Raksha. Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role as Kaa.
The Jungle Book 2 trailer
Proceed with caution; there will most likely be nothing to see here until at least 2021.