Hollywood
‘The Jungle Book’ to premiere on three Star channels on 27 November
MUMBAI: Star Movies has been home to the biggest blockbusters that have enthralled audiences over the years. Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD are all set to bring the beloved childhood classic – Disney’s The Jungle Book to audiences in India.
Some stories leave a lasting impression on our minds while some fade away. Jungle Book is the former; a story that has kept us spellbound with every adaptation, be it TV or film. Academy Award winning director Jon Favreau brings to life Disney’s The Jungle Book as a benchmark of how CGI films have developed over the years. Disney’s The Jungle Book will premiere on Star Movies, Star Movies HD and Star Movies Select HD on 27 November (Sunday,) at 1pm and 9pm.
The film’s cast includes three Oscar winners: Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o and Christopher Walken; and an Oscar nominee: Bill Murray. Featuring Neel Sethi as Mowgli with voices from Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Scarlet Johansson, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o and many more, the film rings true to Rudyard Kipling’s timeless tale. All the characters in the movie played an instrumental role in helping Mowgli make the jungle his home. Whether it was Raksha who took care of him as her own; Bagheera who protected him from the sinister Shere Khan or the free spirited Baloo- they formed a family like no other. Disney’s The Jungle Book is about values as much as it is about the grandeur of film-making.
With a worldwide gross of over US$ 963.7 million, the film is the year’s highest grossing Hollywood film in India and second biggest grossing film of 2016 (Hindi and English including).
Visually stunning, Jon Favreau’s re-telling of a classic pays tribute to the original adventure of one of your most beloved childhood stories.
Hollywood
Iger’s final act: Disney boss wraps up epic saga with a new captain at the helm
After 15 turbulent years, two stints in the c-suite, and billions spent on blockbuster acquisitions, Bob Iger is stepping away from the Magic Kingdom.
CALIFORNIA: The 75-year-old chief, hailed as one of the most transformative leaders in modern media, officially hands over to former parks chief Josh D’Amaro on 18 March. And this time, he’s getting the succession right.
Iger’s legacy glitters with big bets and epic wins: the $7.4bn Pixar buy, $4bn Marvel swoop, and the colossal $71bn 21st Century Fox deal. He dragged Disney into the streaming age, fought off activist investor Nelson Peltz, and saw off a political scrap with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
But it hasn’t all been pixie dust. The forced return of Iger in 2022—after the short, shaky reign of successor Bob Chapek—tarnished an otherwise stellar run.
Now, D’Amaro takes the wheel with a streamlined leadership team and Disney firing on all cylinders. The firm’s streaming business is in the black, theme-park attendance is soaring, and five global films have hit $1billion at the box office in the past two years. Not bad for a firm that was on the ropes just months ago.
D’Amaro’s first move? A slick reorg under new president and chief creative officer Dana Walden, folding film, tv, streaming and gaming into one punchy unit. Sean Shoptaw, heading up the gaming division, now reports directly to Walden—bringing Fortnite and Epic Games collaborations closer to Disney’s creative heart.
Iger isn’t sailing off into the sunset just yet. He’ll keep busy with Angel City FC, the women’s football club he owns with his wife. And as Ann Mooney Murphy of Stevens Institute predicts: “A guy like that never truly retires.”
One era ends. Another begins. And the House of Mouse bets big on a future beyond the king.
