Benedict Cumberbatch To Play Shere Khan In ‘Jungle Book’

Star Trek Into Darkness star Benedict Cumberbatch has signed on to voice the villain in Warner Bros.’ adaptation of The Jungle Book.

Cumberbatch, who is the first to officially join the project, will voice the wicked man-eating tiger, Shere Khan, in the classic tale about a boy named Mowgli, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Andy Serkis will make his directorial debut for the Jungle Book: Origins, which centers on the orphan boy who is raised by wolves when he befriends Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther. Shere Khan the tiger is Mowgli’s sworn enemy, with each vowing to slay the other.

Harry Potter’s Steve Kloves is producing the film, with the script written by his daughter Callie Kloves.

Warner Bros. will be competing against Disney who is planning their own adaptation of The Jungle Book movie, as well. The House of Mouse has already announced their full star cast, with Bill Murray to voice Baloo and Scarlett Johansson to voice Bagheera. Idris Elba has been chosen to voice the tiger in Jon Favreau’s take on Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale.

Filmmaker Favreau released this statement in regards to Disney’s live-action adaptation: “I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take [on Jungle Book] that could be very cool, and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic elements. 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.”

Jungle Book: Origins is scheduled to hit theaters October 21, 2016, a little more than a year after Disney’s planned adaptation (October 9, 2015). Which adaptation do you think will triumph: Disney’s or Warner Bros.’?