Bill Murray Joins ‘The Jungle Book’ Cast as Baloo

Jon Favreau’s all-star The Jungle Book cast keeps growing -Bill Murray has signed on to give Baloo the bear a voice.

He joins Christopher Walken as King Louie the orangutan, Sir Ben Kingsley as Bagheera the panther, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela the wolf, Lupita Nyong’o as wolf mother Raksha, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa the snake, and Idris Elba as evil tiger Shere Khan in the live-action/animation project, based on Rudyard Kipling’s stories.

Newcomer Neel Sethi will play the film’s young hero Mowgli.

The movie is set to hit theaters October 9, 2015.

There’s also another, separate Jungle Book project filming, titled Jungle Book: Origins which will be directed by Andy Serkis. Casting for the project is not underway yet, and the film is scheduled to open in theaters a year after the Disney version, on Oct. 21, 2016.

Are you excited about the new Jungle Book films coming our way or are two films in 2 years overkill? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Photo Credit:JStone / Shutterstock.com

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