Willow fans rejoice! Ron Howard making another family film!
Less than a month after Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu fell off the project (he’s busy in post on his flick “Birdman”) , Ron Howard has stepped aboard Warner’s “Jungle Book” – one of two films currently in the works based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless tale of Mowgli- according to THR.
It’s been eons since Howard, whose last film was the duelling race-car drivers drama “Rush”, did a kids film; in the ‘80s he gave us the George Lucas-produced gem “Willow”, and a decade later, he directed “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” starring Jim Carrey in the Dr. Seuss-created role.
Callie Kloves (daughter of “Harry Potter” producer Steve Kloves) wrote the screenplay for “The Jungle Book”, which will assumingly play to a similar tune as the versions of Kipling’s yarn that have come before it (orphan befriending bear, panther, battles a tiger).
Disney also has a “Jungle Book” in the works; that one, also a live-action adaptation, will be helmed by “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau.
Though both films are very much go projects at this stage, there is a chance – happens all the time between dueling projects – one project will pull out of the race before it can even reaches the starting line.