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The Jungle Book: Origins, Warner Bros.’s version of the Rudyard Kipling stories, has seen its release date pushed back by almost a year.
The studio has moved the opening date from Oct. 21, 2016 to Oct. 6, 2017.
It hasn’t abandoned that time, however, for at the same time, Warners has moved Geostorm, an environmental thriller starring Gerard Butler, into that Oct. 21 date.
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Warners is competing with Disney on live-action Jungle Book adaptations, with the Disney project, currently in production with Jon Favreau at the helm, swinging to an Oct. 9, 2015 date.
Warners’ version is still in the early development stages with Andy Serkis attached to direct.
Sources say that the initial date was more of a placeholder than a firmly planted release date. There is a growing trend in distribution circles of grabbing dates and using them as temporary berths for movies before these cinematic souffles are fully baked.
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The new date also gives additional time for Serkis and co. to further work on the special effects-heavy project.
The move not only puts some time and space between Disney’s movie, but it also puts some distance between it and the studio’s other jungle-swinging movie, Tarzan. The latter also opens on July 1, 2016.
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