Disney released brand new images of the cast of The Jungle Book. Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Sir Ben Kingsley, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken are among those featured posing with giant-sized versions of their animal characters.
The new live action adaption is directed by Jon Favreau, who recently spoke to People about the new technology being used to help create an authentic environment.
“We wanted to give a new take on some of it but maintain the traditions of both Rudyard Kipling’s book and the 1967 animated film,” Favreau said. “We set out to design a world that felt at once both authentic to India [the story’s setting] and also felt mythic and dreamlike.”
Favreau also revealed he enlisted a team of FX experts and technology developed for James Cameron’s groundbreaking CGI film Avatar.
“It looks different from anything else,” Favreau added. “We’re kind of building off a tool set that was built for the most part for Avatar. The big thing was if we were going to commit to creating a world digitally, we needed to make it indistinguishable from nature as best we could, use the latest technology and if it was required, build new tools.”
The Jungle Book hits theaters April 15.
Johansson and Kaa.
Elba and Shere Khan.
Nyong’o and Raksha.
Walken and King Louie.
Esposito and Akela.
Kingsley and Bagheera.
