Jon Favreau will forever be known as the director of the Iron Man movies (the first two, anyway). But for those who take the time to surf his prolific resume, you’ll realize just how often he gravitates to family-friendly storytelling. He made Elf with Will Ferrell, and Zathura with Kristen Stewart. And his next picture appears to be made with families in mind.
Deadline notes that Favreau is in conversations with Disney to helm a live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
“I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take that could be very cool, and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic elements,” Favreau told the site. “It is my first real family film since Elf, and there are action elements and visual effects that I feel like my experience on the Iron Man films are going to be useful.”
The Jungle Book famously was adapted into an animated feature back in 1967, a movie that was nominated for an Academy Award for the Original Song “The Bare Necessities.”
But it’s a film that absolutely could use a polish… and a live-action push into this classic book that could be exactly what Disney needs to relaunch the brand.
Favreau also has been circling a project at Walt Disney Studios titled Magic Kingdom – a story that, from what we’ve heard – takes place in the Disney parks. No idea if that project will ever come to fruition, or if Favreau’s The Jungle Book will leap ahead of it on his personal production schedule.
While we wait, Favreau has a kitchen comedy titled Chef with Robert Downey Jr. reaching theaters on May 9, 2014. But if Jungle Book drifts forward, do you think Favreau is the right choice to direct?
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