Andy Serkis will direct a live-action version of 'The Jungle Book'.
The 49-year-old actor has his sights set on the adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic children's story and is in negotiations with Warner Bros. to bring it to life on the big screen.
Serkis will also produce the movie with Steve Kloves, and Steve's daughter Callie Kloves is set to make her screenwriting debut on the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Alejandro González Iñárritu was previously in talks to direct the film, but he pulled out due to scheduling conflicts and Ron Howard, who directed 'Rush' was also a brief contender for the director position.
However, adding the 'Lord of the Rings' star to the movie will put Warner Bros. back in the competition as Disney is also running a live-action 'Jungle Book' project, which has already hit the casting stage.
Disney's adaptation will be directed by Jon Favreau, known for 'Elf' and 'Iron Man', and Idris Elba is also on board to voice the man-eating tiger Shera Khan.
'The Jungle Book' would mark Serkis' first feature directing gig, although he has also served as second unit director on the 'Hobbit'.
Kipling's original collection of stories were published in 1894 and Disney famously released its animated movie in 1967, which was then followed by a live-action film in 1994.

Liam Payne has offered to write tracks for Neon Jungle.
The One Direction hunk is keen to pen songs for other acts and told the British four-piece last month that he'd like to work with them in the future because he likes their style.
The group's singer and rapper Amira McCarthy told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "We met Liam at the Brits afterparty.
"He told us he wanted to write for us and likes our sound, which was amazing.
"We couldn't believe it, so that's definitely something for the future."
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old singer and his bandmate Louis Tomlinson teamed up with Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden in the United States earlier this month to work on material, which is expected to feature on One Direction's upcoming fourth album.
Although Liam and Louis' bandmates - Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik - weren't involved in the collaboration, Harry, 20, has also been working on some new music with Irish rock band Kodaline.
Niall has also been spending some time with McFly - consisting of Danny Jones, Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd - recently and was busy writing a song with them earlier this week.
However, this isn't the first time Niall, 20, has teamed up with McFly as they also collaborated last year for several tracks, which featured on One Direction's 'Midnight Memories' album.

Simon Cowell has introduced his mother to his son for the first time.
The 54-year-old music mogul hasn't seen his mum Julie, 88, in months, but he and his girlfriend Lauren Silverman paid her a visit in England earlier this week to introduce her to five-week-old Eric, who was named after her late husband.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was a lovely visit from Simon and Lauren, and Julie was thrilled.
"There were some very emotional moments when she got to hold and touch Eric and his name is obviously very poignant for Julie as her husband Eric died in 1999."
Simon previously revealed that he and Lauren, 36, were planning to move back to London after Eric's birth due to his demanding work schedule, but the pair will have to divide their time between the UK and the US as Lauren's eight-year-old son Adam - from her previous marriage with Andrew Silverman - lives in New York.
He said last month: "Lauren knows what my work schedule is so she is cool with that and we will travel a little bit.
"We made the decision to come back to the UK and she wants to live here for a while."

Kanye West is buying Kim Kardashian a chain of fast food eateries.
The 36-year-old rapper, who owns several Fatburger bistros in Chicago through his company KW Foods LLC, is giving his fiancée 10 Burger King restaurants throughout Europe as a wedding gift.
A source told the Daily Star newspaper: "As always, Kanye is thinking outside the box when it comes to gifts for Kim.
"She owns all the jewels anyone could ever want, so he is taking the practical route by investing in businesses for her instead.
"He knows the fast food industry is reliable and lucrative, plus BK is international so he thinks it's the perfect fit for Kim.
"Kanye wants to buy her 10 restaurants across the UK, Italy and France, making her a real international businesswoman."
The 'Bound 2' hitmaker wants Kim to step away from her reality TV series 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' and start carving out a successful career in business.
The source added: "That's where he sees her future career, away from reality TV."
Meanwhile, the couple - who have nine-month-old daughter North together - are reportedly set to tie the knot in Paris on May 24.

Mark Ronson was "starstruck" when he first met Jay Z.
The 38-year-old DJ, who first spoke with the 'Holy Grail' hitmaker properly at an album launch, was stunned when the rapper asked to feature on one of his tracks after he discovered him DJing in New York clubs.
Mark told Breaks magazine: "I started to get quite a lot of work and then in the late 90s, like 97, 98, that's when Puffy and Jay Z and Biggie and Big Pun are coming down to the clubs that I was DJing at.
"I was [later] DJing for Jay Z at the 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia' album launch in 2001 and I was playing it and he came right up to me and said 'is this your song, is this the girl you produced?', and he'd only talked to me maybe once in my life up to then so even with that I was still pretty star-struck."
Mark was shocked when Jay Z said to him: "Promise me you'll let me by the dude that rhymes over the remix", even though the track was never made.
He continued: "Needless to say Jay Z never returned the phone calls at the time to do it but it was still a big deal after eight years of DJing these clubs for these people to have a record that they knew and liked.
"And thats how I got my record deal with Elektra, the guy who signed me loved that Nikka Costa record and he signed me and let me make my own album."
For the full interview with Mark, visit breaksmag.com/issue-6/interview-mark-ronson.

Theo James has revealed the 'Divergent' cast bonded by going drinking with each other before and during shooting.
The 29-year-old actor - who plays Tobias 'Four' Eaton in the forthcoming sci-fi action movie - lived with the cast in a down town Chicago apartment building and they got to know each other during boozy nights out in town.
He said: "You really had to dive in and become friends with everyone - getting f***ed up and having nights on the town always eases that."
Director Neil Burger added: "Like corralling wild cats."
Although he had a lot of fun James also worked very hard in the gym to achieve the physical look director Niel required for the movie.
Theo revealed to Total Film magazine: "I kind of consider myself fairly in shape. I've done some martial arts and boxing before. But when we were doing the costume fitting, I was in a T-shirt and we were trying on jackets. I was like 'So you know, (this character) is kind of my shape right?' Niel was like ,'No, he's going to be much more powerful'. I said 'Oh s**t...' I literally ran to the gym and spent a month there."
Futuristic thriller 'Divergent' also stars Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet and Zoë Kravitz.

American band R5 were thrilled when they got to 'twerk' with One Direction.
The act - made up of Ross Lynch from Disney Channel's 'Austin & Ally', 'Glee' star Riker Lynch, Rocky Lynch, Rydel Lynch and Ellington Lee Ratliff, met the 'Midnight Memories' hitmakers at the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles in January and ended up dancing with them after asking for tips on their future careers.
The only female member of the group, Rydel, told BANG Showbiz : "We were at the Teen Choice Awards and they sat in front of me. At one point in the show they were trying to get everyone to 'twerk' and Rocky stood up and 'twerked' right by Zayn's head."
After playing the lead role of Austin Moon in 'Austin & Ally', Ross has become a heartthrob like Harry Styles but says he never set out to be a teen icon and would rather become the next Mick Jagger.
Ross explained: "Don't think of it like the Harry of the group, think of it like the Mick Jagger, like the frontman.
"I don't want to be in any way like a teen icon of any sort ... I don't aim for that, it's cool if they think I'm that, it just happens but it's cool to be just a musician."
R5 dream of being as successful as One Direction and would love to play huge stadiums one day.
Ross added: "I think they have amazingly well written songs, they seem like really cool dudes, they seem like they enjoy it which is a good thing and they seem like they want it."
R5 have just finished the European leg of their 'Louder' World Tour but are hoping to return to the UK this summer.

Paula Patton has told Robin Thicke to stop giving her gifts to try and win her back.
The 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' actress has been showered with love tokens since she announced her split from the 'Blurred Lines' singer last month.
But rather than softening her heart, 37-year-old Robin's romantic gestures are not impressing estranged wife Paula, 38.
A source told National Enquirer magazine: "In one two-week period alone, Robin gifted Paula with a diamond tennis bracelet, a pair of turquoise earrings and a gorgeous platinum chain that holds a diamond key."
She reportedly told her estranged spouse: "I can't believe you think sending all these presents is going to make everything all better."
Paula - who has three-year-old son Julian with Robin - isn't impressed with all the lavish luxuries he has bought, and insists it's a change in him as a person she wants rather than presents.
The source added: "She's insulted that he thinks he can win her back with pricey gifts. He knows what it's going to take, and it's nothing he can buy with money."
Though the couple insisted their split was mutual when they announced their separation, it has subsequently been reported that Paula told her spouse she wanted a divorce and Robin did everything he could to get her to change her mind and stay with him.

Rihanna's ex-accountant is seeking to have her lawsuit against him dismissed.
Peter Gounis has filed a response to the 'The Monster' hitmaker's lawsuit, in which she claims he left her virtually bankrupt and $9 million in debt in 2009, insisting he was only hired to record and manage her accounts and not to give her advice about her spending.
In new court documents, obtained by gossip website TMZ.com, he claims the 26-year-old star blew millions of her own money on shopping sprees and throwing extravagant parties for herself.
He also said she dropped out of an expensive tour to shoot her movie 'Battleship' that turned out to be a massive failure.
In her claim, Rihanna - whose real name is Robyn Fenty - said she was advised to buy a $7 million house, even though she was "bleeding cash".
But Gounis insists he never directed her to buy the dilapidated property that was rotting from water and mold damage.
He added: "Was it really necessary to tell her that if you spend money for things you will end up with the things, and not the money?"
The accountant has asked the judge to throw out the case.
Last month it was reported that the 'Pour It Up' singer had reached a $10 million settlement with Gounis' former firm Berdon LLP.
Rihanna is now worth an estimated $43 million.

Police in Seattle, Washington have re-examined the investigation into Kurt Cobain's death.
The King County Sheriff's Office recently assigned a detective to look into the files, almost 20 years after the Nirvana frontman was found dead in his home in the city, and he developed four rolls of 35 mm film depicting images from the scene of the rocker's death that had been sitting in the evidence vault.
But he decided not to reopen the case, as there were no new findings.
Police spokesperson Renee Witt told the Seattle Times: "He dug up the files and had another look and there was nothing new."
The Seattle Police Department also wrote on Twitter: "Despite an erroneous news report, we have not 'reopened' the investigation into the suicide of Kurt Cobain.
"Our detective reviewed the case file anticipating questions surrounding the closed Cobain case as the 20 yr anniversary approaches (sic)."
An electrician found the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' hitmaker's body on April 8, 1994.
An autopsy revealed that the 27-year-old singer died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound and had a lethal amount of heroin in his bloodstream.
His death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner.

Chris Hemsworth's pregnant wife Elsa Pataky has been admitted to hospital in Los Angeles.
The Spanish actress, who is expecting twins, was spotted with the Australian actor at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood on Thursday (20.03.14), sparking reports she was in labour.
An insider told gossip website TMZ.com that two security guards accompanied the couple, who already have a 22-month-old daughter India Rose, to the hospital and watched over their private suite.
The 'Thor' star was also seen strolling around the hallway, escorted by another guard.
Proud father Chris, 30, previously gushed about family life and admitted he is happiest when he is with his wife and daughter.
He said: "Being a father is certainly a task. But the best one that I could ever ask for. Being home, being with the family, that's what it's about ... It makes me much more relaxed with work, because I have something that is far more important to me now."
The actor married Elsa, 37, in 2010 after a whirlwind romance.
The blonde beauty went grocery shopping with some family members in Malibu on Monday (17.03.14), before stopping to pick up a healthy green juice.

Ashley Judd will always love Dario Franchitti.
The 'Divergent' actress sparked rumours late last year that she had reunited with her Scottish husband, 40, from whom she separated in January 2013 after 11 years of marriage, after she rushed to support him when he was injured in a crash at the Houston Grand Prix in Texas in October.
The 45-year-old star admits that their relationship has been complicated but told the April issue of Ladies' Home Journal magazine: "He'll always be my loved one. Even before our wedding, we agreed not to tell people about our relationship, but to show them instead. What we're showing them now is we're human, we're family, and this is what family looks like."
The duo reportedly decided to give their marriage another chance in November after Dario's crash brought them closer together again.
Ashley had a tumultuous childhood and battled depression but is determined to be a "joyful" old woman.
Asked what she would like to be like when she is older, she said: "A feminist committed to social justice. A homebody. A Kentucky basketball fan. But mostly, a woman who has her priorities in order."