The Bolder Traits of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle Can't Overcome Its More Tired Tendencies

Andy Serkis may have not planned to fixate his entire career around motion-capture performances but after portraying acclaimed characters like Gollum, Caesar and the 2005 version of King Kong, he's embraced it, to the point that not only has he founded a studio dedicated to this artform but his second directorial effort (following the dreadful biopic drama Breathe) is primarily centered around characters brought to life by the motion-capture process. What project would call for so many characters of this nature? Why, a new big-screen adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book of course, though this time around it's called Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle as an obvious homage to the classic fantasy adventure King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

"The King....Has Returned": Disney And Elf/Iron Man/The Jungle Book Director Jon Favreau Are Doing A Lion King Remake

I saw Jon Favreau post an image of Simba on Pride Rock on Instagram with the caption "Super excited for my next project" about half an hour ago and, honest to God, I thought it was a joke. It left my mind real quickly until, a few minutes later, I saw people discussing it on Facebook. The validity of it was unknown to us until someone pointed out a press release Disney oddly released at Midnight last night (normally such announcements are made during the day when entertainment news outlets can cover them) that confirmed it; Disney is doing a remake of The Lion King.

Captain America: Civil War Grosses $181 Million This Weekend, Making A Lot More Money For Marvel To Use To Bribe Critics #SupportDCFilms

Considering audiences have spent over $871 million on superhero movies in the past 87 days alone, I think it's fairly apparent that superhero fatigue has set in and the genre is doomed. I mean, Captain America: Civil War made "only" $181.7 million this weekend! That's only the fifth-highest grossing weekend ever! Obviously, the MCU is doomed and audiences have given up on a style of storytelling that has existed prominently in pop culture for nearly 80 years (if one were to say the modern pop culture pop of superheroes started with the comic book debut of Superman). Well, pack it up folks.

Keanu And Mother's Day Suffer Grizzly Fate At The Box Office At The Hands Of The Jungle Book

With one week to go until Summer 2016 officially kicks off at the box office, the final weekend of April 2016 proved to be a quiet one as audiences seemed to be hunkering down for the arrival of the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe feature (Captain America: Civil War) to kick the season off, just as the franchise has for all but two of the last eight summers. For now though, The Jungle Book continued to be an impressive box office performer by securing a third consecutive weekend atop the box office, scoring a $42.3 million gross this frame, taking its domestic cume to a massive $252 million.

The Jungle Book Review

I'm a hardcore Disney fan (my first word as a human being, believe it or not, was Disney), but, to be perfectly frank, this new wave of live-action adaptations of classic Disney cartoons hasn't really done much for me. Alice In Wonderland was typical modern day Tim Burton pablum, Maleficent's few interesting ideas (namely weaving in a metaphor for rape into the backstory of its titular character) were severely overshadowed by how tedious and uninspired the rest of the film's story and characters were and Cinderella was only inoffensive at best. But finally, oh finally, one of these live-action adaptations has finally turned out to be a well-made movie in its own right.

The Jungle Book Is The Box Office VIP While Barbershop 3 Serves A Solid Amount of Customers

It's pretty apparent at this point that Disney's live-action adaptations of their classic animated features are as close to guaranteed money-makers as you'll find at the domestic box office. After the likes of Alice In Wonderland, Maleficent and Cinderella made bug bucks for the Mouse House, the newest entry in this subgenre, The Jungle Book, debuted to reviews far more positive than the ones given to its kin and also garnered one of the biggest opening weekends for any movie released by Disney. Mowgli and his jungle pals claimed $103.5 million in its first domestic opening weekend, waaay bigger than the bows of Maleficent and Cinderella and the second biggest opening weekend ever for April.

The First Trailer For The New Jungle Book Movie Has Arrived!

The Jungle Book is one of my favorite films of all-time, full stop. It's a magnificent showcase for the incredible hand-drawn animation Disney was capable of in its heyday (every one of the minor mannerisms of Shere Kahn are amazing and even subtle moment like Kaa shrugging shows an immensely inventive spirit), as well as some insanely lovable characters like Baloo and Bagheera. The best part? This isn't all bad on childhood nostalgia; rewatching it last year, I discovered that not only did the motion picture hold up, but there were more subtle elements of it that stood out to me as an adult viewer that only enhanced my enormous appreciation for this 1967 film.

The Five Best Disney Villains

Writing about Treasure Planet last week got me to thinking about those wonderful animated Disney films that left such an impression on me on as a person After thinking about the topic over the course of the past few days, as well as reading Entertainment Weekly's ranking of 20 Disney villains songs, which insanely undervalued Hellfire), I thought I'd write about a crucial part of the movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios; the villains.

And Now Winnie The Pooh Is Getting A Live-Action Remake

With Cinderella looking to make $500 million worldwide by the end of it's run, Disney is hellbent on making numerous other live-action remakes out of it's beloved animated features. Dumbo is on the way from Tim Burton, while 2016 will bring new updates of The Jungle Book and Pete's Dragon. Recently, Mulan got announced to be receiving a live-action update, and now Winnie The Pooh is getting ready for such treatment.

Tim Burton Is Directing A Live-Action Dumbo Movie. I Swear, This Isn't An Onion Headline

Disney's recent surge of converting their classic animated films to live-action/CGI features has only been done twice (I'd say count Oz The Great And Powerful, but it's not technically an extension of a Disney movie), but those two films were Alice In Wonderland and Maleficent, which both made big bucks at the box office. Hell, Alice managed to gross over billion dollars, paving the way for a sequel to that 2010 film (which arrives in 2016), as well as a cavalcade of updates to classic Disney movies.

Editorial: The Modern Disney Animation Resurgence Is Nothing Short Of Fantastic

An awesome image Wired made for their magazine to celebrate recent features
from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Hooray for Bolt and Winnie The Pooh
getting some recognition! 

With Big Hero 6 on the horizon, many have shifted their attention to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and specifically their numerous recent achievements. Seriously, the studio has been on fire lately, churning out one entertaining feature after the other. As this awesome and in-depth Wired article notes, the last few years have restored luster to the company, with the phenomenally successful Frozen just clinching that the company has reformed itself.

Editorial: Warner Bros. And Disney Are Engaged In A Cinematic Civil War

 Recently, movie studios have made a release date for an upcoming movie far more than just a typical date. Oh no, it's as essential as any other part of the film, with studios grabbing release dates far, far in advance in order to give their film the best possible advantage financially. Studios have always been eager to pick the best release dates possible, but recently, two studios have been using it as a way to compete with each other on a massive scale.

Editorial: Disney Needs To Start Rereleasing Their Classic Animated Movies To Theaters Again

I watched The Jungle Book last night for the umpteenth time last night, but let me tell you, that movie never gets old. On the contrary, it gets better with each viewing. It's actually a much more mature tale of coming of age than many give it credit for, and its upbeat atmosphere is beyond infectious. One thing I did wonder (besides some peculiar choices in terms of color on the Platinum Edition DVD) is how great the film would look on the big screen.

New Jungle Book Movie Adds Ben Kingsley To Awesome Cast!

Ben Kingsley?Trevor Slattery 

I absolutely love Disney (which, interestingly enough, was my first word spoken as a human being!), but I'm especially fond of their work on the animated side of things. Out of all 53 animated features Walt Disney Animation Studios has made though, my all-time favorite may be The Jungle Book, a superbly crafted masterpiece that just has no shortage of energy, fun and engrossing characters. That classic film is the next Disney animated film in line to be given the live-action/CGI treatment that was bestowed upon Alice In Wonderland and Maleficent. A remake of this movie should make my blood boil, but with the talent already lined up for it (and plenty more to come!) the project so far sounds delightful.