* Jon Favreau's had his fun in the indie world with Chef but now it's time to pay the bills. He's directing Disney's 3D live-action version of The Jungle Book, and the already great voice cast just got better with the addition of Ben Kingsley. Kingsley will voice Bagheera, a black panther who becomes a friend to Mowgli, a human boy left in the jungle and raised by the animals. Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong'o will voice other characters when The Jungle Book opens October 29th 2015.
* Rooney Mara is set to produce and star in A House in the Sky, an adaptation of Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's memoir. Mara will play Lindhout, who in 2008 was abducted in Mogadishu by a terrorist group and held captive for 15 months and subjected to terrible abuses. No word on a writer or director yet but with Annapurna Pictures backing this one don't be surprised if it has awards potential.
* Ben Wheatley is putting together an amazing cast for his adaptation of J.G. Ballard's dystopian novel, High-Rise. Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) and James Purefoy (The Following) have come aboard, joining Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, and Luke Evans in the film set inside a luxury high-rise where a violent tribal uprising is taking place.
