Andy Serkis‘ JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS is on the verge of adding a new actor to the cast and this one will not be for voice work or performance capture. Deadline reports that Matthew Rhys is in negotiations to play the human character of John Lockwood in the gritty take on Rudyard Kipling‘s classic.
Rhys is best known for his current role on the critically acclaimed (and criminally underseen) series The Americans on FX. He is set to appear in John Wells‘ upcoming film ADAM JONES opposite Bradley Cooper, Emma Thompson, Omar Sy and Lily James. He is a solid actor capable of everything from drama to comedy, as evidenced by his voice and writing work on the animated series Archer.
Andy Serkis‘ film boasts a pretty stellar cast already that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, but it will be at odds with Disney’s production directed by Jon Favreau which hits in 2016. While Disney’s version is going to likely hew closer to the animated classic, Serkis’ vision sounds like it will be more faithful to the Kipling story and is bound to give us some stirring visuals we have not seen before.
JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS is set to open on October 6, 2017.