Harry Potter Director Asked to Help Improve Rival Jungle Book Movie

Disney's new film of The Jungle Book is currently doing massive business at the box office, but this is not the only adaptation of the classic story that is to be released in the next couple of years. Warner are also making a version, but having pushed the release back, the studio is now looking at other ways to set it apart from its smash hit rival. It has now been reported that Gravity and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón is coming on board to lend a hand.

According to Deadline, the Oscar-winning filmmaker is joining the project to "give notes" and see how the film can be improved. The site reports that the studio is sensitive to the suggestion that Cuarón is taking over the project from director Andy Serkis, and stresses that he is purely there as a "friend to the studio."

Production on the film has already wrapped, but earlier this month Warner made the decision to move the film back an entire year from its initial release date of October 2017 to October 2018. The film originally had the title Jungle Book: Origins, but is now simply called Jungle Book.

Serkis took to Facebook to comment on the decision to shift the release, stating that he was "absolutely thrilled" to have another year to work on the movie. "The ambition for this project is huge," he said. "What we are attempting is an unprecedented level of psychological and emotional nuance in morphing the phenomenal performances of our cast into the facial expressions of our animals.

"So, every minute more that we have to evolve the technological pipeline will make all the difference. The evidence is there already and it's off-the-chain exciting, so hang on in there. This is truly next generation storytelling."

Jungle Book has a cast that includes Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, and Naomie Harris. It is set to be released on October 19, 2018.