Entertainment

Bill Murray joins Disney's "Jungle Book" cast

By Ken Lombardi

/ CBS News

Bill Murray is now one of the bare necessities making up Disney's new "Jungle Book" live-action film.

The "Grand Budapest Hotel" star has signed on to voice the role of Baloo in the latest re-telling of Rudyard Kipling's 1894 novel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Murray, 64, will be joining a voice cast which already features Christopher Walken as King Louie and Scarlett Johansson as Kaa. Additional voice actors include Ben Kingsley, Luipita Nyong'o, Giancarlo Esposito and Idris Elba.

The stars are voicing CG-animated characters who will interact with 10-year-old actor Neel Sethi in the role of Mowgli.

"Iron Man" filmmaker Jon Favreau will be directing the film, which marks Disney's third effort at bringing Kipling's story to the bring screen. The studio previously released an Oscar-nominated animated version in 1967 as a well as a live-action take starring Jason Scott Lee in 1994.

This latest "Jungle Book" will swing into theaters on Oct. 9, 2015.

Ken Lombardi

Ken Lombardi is an entertainment reporter for CBS News. He has interviewed over 300 celebrities, including Clint Eastwood, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks.

First published on August 4, 2014 / 11:39 AM EDT

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