Benedict Cumberbatch has joined a new adaptation of The Jungle Book.
Cumberbatch is set to voice the character of villain Shere Khan, while Andy Serkis makes his directorial debut with the film.
This is the second of two adaptations of the Rudyard Kipling novel, and Cumberbatch is the first member of the cast list to be announced.
Serkis is best known for his wonderful motion capture work on the likes of The Lord of the Rings and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but he is now making the leap into the director's chair.
Callie Kloves is set to adapt the novel into a screenplay: this will be her first big screen script.
Disney are also bringing their own live action version of the book to the big screen, with Jon Favreau in the director's chair.
As for Cumberbatch, he will be back on the big screen this autumn as he leads the cast in The Imitation Game.
The movie will see him play Alan Turing in a movie that is already being tipped as a possible Oscar contender.
He will also return as Smaug in The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, and he has just completed work on new gangster film Black Mass.
Jungle Book: Origins is set to hit the big screen in 2016.
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