Ron Howard Will Likely Direct the Live Action Version of “Jungle Book”

One of the best directors of Hollywood – Ron Howard – has recently made a deal to direct as well as produce Warner Bros' upcoming film the Jungle Book. Previously, the Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, who is well-known for films 21 Grams and Babel, had been announced to work on the project, but he later turned it down. Now, Ron Howard, who recently directed “Rush”, has replaced Alejandro on the 2nd Jungle Book remake.

As it usually happens in Hollywood, Ron Howard will have to compete with another similar film production that is also underway, a live action movie project from Disney that will be directed by Jon Favreau, who is well-known for Iron Man franchise. Nevertheless, it could be some time prior to Ron's directed film is started, as he has may other films to work on in the near future. One project to work on is “Inferno”, which is the sequel of his Dan Brown adaptations, “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” both starring Tom Hanks as the leader character. He is currently also going through the post production process of “The Graveyard Book”, which is a Disney version of the Neil Gaiman novel.

It was publicized a couple of weeks before that Ron had also signed a deal to produce Chinese director Zhang Yimou's debut western film The Parsifal Mosaic, which is based on Robert Ludlum's novel. Recently, Howard appeared at the BAFTA awards to receive the award for editing for his non-present Rush editors and said teasingly: "I think they'd thank the hell out me. There could have been tears - who the hell knows?"

The Jungle Book, written by Rudyard Kipling, has been one of the most renowned animated Disney incarnations. Two films version of the story were created in 1942 and 1994. According to various media sources, Callie Kloves has been announced to write the screenplay for The Jungle Book, which is based on a renowned story written by Rudyard Kipling in 1894.

The story revolves around a Mowgli, an orphaned lad raised by friendly jungle animals. Howard will help Warner Bros. to come up with a perfect cast choice and keep brilliant pace with Disney. Disney formerly created the 1967 animated film, but as Kipling's story is in the public rights, both organizations can follow and make their own particular projects.