Bill Murray will provide the voice for Baloo in the upcoming remake of "The Jungle Book."
Deadline Hollywood reported Friday that Disney's iconic 1967 animated film is being restyled for the 21st century by Jon Favreau as combination live-action and virtual-animation hybrid set to hit theaters in October 2015. Murray is the latest to join a cast that includes Christopher Walken as King Louie, Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Ben Kingsley as the black panther Bagheera, as well as Lupita Nyong’o, Idris Elba, and Scarlett Johansson.
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Favreau took to Instagram on Friday to celebrate the good news, posting a picture of Mowgli and Baloo, and writing, "Looks like we cast our Baloo. So we have that going for us."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, 10-year-old Neel Sethi will star as Mowgli in his first major motion picture role. He will be the only non-animated character in the film.
Murray, and Oscar nominee and Emmy winner, is of course a veteran of Saturday Night Live, and has starred in a number of films from "Ghostbusters" to "Groundhog Day" to the critically acclaimed "Lost in Translation." He most recently appeared in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Monuments Men."
The announcement didn't specify whether Murray would reprise the movie's biggest hit song, "Bear Necessities," but there's a good chance, considering Murray's no stranger to on-screen crooning.
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