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Jason Merritt/Getty ImagesMoviegoers will have to wait a bit longer to see Jon Favreau‘s The Jungle Book, which is switching places with Craig Gillespie‘s sea rescue epic The Finest Hours.
Disney said Tuesday it is moving Jungle Book from Oct. 9, 2015 to April 15, 2016, the date previously occupied by Finest Hours. The latter film, which could be an awards contender, now opens Oct. 9.
The studio also announced it will open remake Pete’s Dragon on Aug. 12, 2016, and DreamWorks’ live-action remake Ghost in the Shell on April 14, 2017.
Scarlett Johansson stars in two of the films — Jungle Book and Ghost in the Shell, an update of the iconic Japanese anime movie that Rupert Sanders is directing for Steven Spielberg‘s DreamWorks.
Jungle Book‘s cast also includes Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Esposito, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o, and Idris Elba. Warner Bros. also has a Jungle Book film in the works, although it won’t open until Oct. 6, 2017.
A Disney insider said Finest Hours, starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster, feels more suited to fall, the heart of awards season, although the source didn’t go so far as to say the movie will be a contender. Based on the novel of the same name by Casey Sherman, the film tells the story of two oil tankers that were split apart during a severe storm off the coast of Cape Cod n 1952, and the Coast Guard’s valiant rescue mission.
Pete’s Dragon, a live-action/animation hybrid, gets its release date only days after Michael C. Hall and Wes Bentley signed onto star in the Disney movie opposite Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard. Oakes Fegley will play the title character.
Jan. 13, 4:30 p.m. A previous version of this story misidentified the cast of The Jungle Book. THR regrets the error.
