Warners’ The Jungle Book Movie Casts Benedict Cumberbatch In The Most Obvious Role

I’ll give you one guess.

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

What’s that? I didn’t hear you? Khan again?

I crack myself up.

Yes, Warner Bros. has cast none other than Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan in their adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This is not to be confused (but will totally be confused) with the other The Jungle Book in the works from Disney. That one has Idris Elba voicing Shere Khan and damn, I’d be hard pressed to say which is the better casting. I’m just gonna say I like them both equally.

Elba-Jungle Book is being directed by Jon Favreau and also has Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, and Lupita Nyong’o attached.

Cumberbatch-Jungle Book is being helmed by Andy Serkis and as far as I know, this is the first official casting announcement. THR writes, “Callie Kloves wrote the script. Her father, Steve Kloves of Harry Potter fame, is producing.”

While the Disney version is said to be live-action, the THR report only mentions Cumberbatch taking on voice acting for the Warner project. But with motion-capture expert Serkis leading the pack, you can bet Cumberbatch is going to be making some weird faces again.

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

twitter facebook