It's a jungle out there, all right.
Walt Disney Studios released a trailer for The Jungle Book during Super Bowl 50 Sunday ahead of the movie's Apr. 16 release. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli, a man-cub who's been raised by a wolf pack. The CGI-live-action hybrid is a remake of the 1967 animated film of the same name. The voice cast includes Idris Elba as the tiger, Shere Khan; Giancarlo Esposito as the wolf pack's alpha male, Akela; Scarlett Johansson as the python, Kaa; Ben Kinsgley as the panther, Bagheera; Bill Murray as the bear Baloo, Lupita Nyong'o as the mama wolf, Raksha; and Christopher Walken as the orangutan, King Louie.
After Mowgli flees the only home he's ever known to escape Shere Khan, he soon finds that the jungle is far more dangerous than he ever imagined. When he meets Kaa, for example, she tries to hypnotize him with her eyes. "Are you alone out here? What are you doing so deep in the jungle? Don't you know what you are? I know what you are. I know where you came from," she tells the unaccompanied minor. "Poor, sweet little goat. I'll keep you close. Let go of your fear now and trust in me."
Uh, maybe don't trust Kaa. Stick with Baloo.
E! News caught up with Sethi in August, who was cast after thousands of young boys from all over the world auditioned for a chance to play Mowgli. "It was really fun," he said of making his debut in a blockbuster movie. "Since it's my first one, it's like really overwhelming because I've never done anything like this before."
During that same weekend at the D23 convention in Anaheim, Calif., Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, promised fans of the animated film would not be disappointed. "We strive to honor what's come before while saying something new," he said, adding that Favreau's take on the remake is "one of the most technologically advanced movies ever made."
The Jungle Book swings into theaters in 3D on Apr. 15.