Andy Serkis talks directing "Jungle Book" for Warner Bros.March 28, 2014 - 11:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Prior to receiving the Vanguard Award on Thursday, March 27 evening at CinemaCon, actor Andy Serkis talked with The Hollywood Reporter about his latest role as director of Warner Bros.' live action take on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the entertainmnet news agency reported. The actor -- best known for his roles as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes -- said he first read The Jungle Book as a child growing up in Baghdad. "I found it mesmerizing, and it transported me into this incredible world," he said. "It's extraordinary that I'm getting a chance to bring it to the screen. "What I love about the screen adaptation by Steve and Callie Kloves is it's very truthful to the original book; it doesn’t shy away from its darkness. The jungle is a Garden of Eden and a wonderful place for Mowgli to grow up in, but also is a place of fear and a place of threat." This will mark Serkis' feature directorial debut after directing second unit on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Warners offered a glimpse at the final film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, which opens Dec. 17, during its slate presentation Thursday at CinemaCon. This segment included a recorded message from Jackson and a look back at the previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. Related links: Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | U.S. warns Georgia not to side with Moscow against the west Georgia has been warned by the U.S. not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow. Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. |