Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba & Lupita Nyong’o Join Live-Action/Animated ‘Jungle Book’ Cast

‘The Jungle Book’

It seems that a new Disney trend was started four years ago with Alice in Wonderland . How so? Well, some of my (and your) favorite Disney cartoon films are being remade into live action films by the same company who produced them years ago (thank God).

From this year’s Maleficent to next year’s Cinderella and 2011’s Once Upon a Time on ABC, it seems like there is no stopping the beloved company from bringing cartoons to life.

Now a live-action animation blend of The Jungle Book is currently in the works , and some A-list names are attached to it.

The film will feature mostly characters created with CG and voiced by actors, with Ben Kingsley ( Iron Man 3 ) as the black panther Bagheera, Idris Elba ( Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom ) as the villainous tiger Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong’o ( 12 Years A Slave ) as the mother wolf Raksha, and Scarlett Johansson ( Lucy ) as the python Kaa.

Christopher Walken ( Jersey Boys ) will voice King Louie, the ruler of a group of apes and monkeys, and Breaking Bad alum Giancarlo Esposito will voice Akela, the leader of a wolf pack.

Set to hit theaters on October 9, 2015 in 3D, Disney’s Jungle Book will be directed by Jon Favreau from a script by Justin Marks .

I think I just got excited for this. What about you?