Andy Serkis’ ‘Jungle Book: Origins’ Gets Pushed Back to 2018

Not to be confused with Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, which hits theaters next week, Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book: Origins — aka That Other Jungle Book Movie — is still very much in development at Warner Bros. On the heels of today’s news that the studio is scaling back the number of blockbusters they put out each year, Serkis’ film has been pushed back from 2017 to 2018.

This news also arrives following the seemingly counterproductive report that WB has set release dates for two more untitled DC superhero movie projects, one of which is likely Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie. Shrug emoticon.

Per Deadline, WB has moved Jungle Book: Origins from October 2017 to October 19, 2018 — a full year later than originally planned. The studio is reportedly minimizing the number of big-budget blockbusters they release every year following the negative reviews and underwhelming box office returns for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which in turn followed a string of disappointing releases, including the Wachowskis’ ambitiously risky Jupiter Ascending.

But there’s probably more reasoning behind WB’s release shift for Jungle Book: Origins, which marks the directorial debut of mo-cap expert Andy Serkis. The studio is likely trying to put more distance between Serkis’ film and Favreau’s similar live-action / CGI re-telling of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story. In addition, Serkis is fairly pre-occupied with acting work, reprising his role as Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: Episode VIII and as Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes — both of which are currently filming.

Although Jungle Book: Origins is reportedly in post-production, the CGI-heavy project will have a lot of work to finish in post, and the new release date gives Serkis more time to fine-tune the film. Like Favreau’s The Jungle Book, Jungle Book: Origins also features an all-star cast, including Serkis as Baloo, Christian Bale as Bagheera, Cate Blanchett as Kaa and Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan.