MUMBAI: Andy Serkis, the quirky actor, best known for portraying the role of the infamous creature ‘Gollum’ in the Lord of the Rings films has been roped in to direct Warner Bros’ live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling much loved classic, Jungle Book.

Before Serkis, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Babel) and Ron Howard (Rush) were attached to the project, but the former stepped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Warner Bros faces tough competition with this venture, since Disney also has a live-action Jungle Book adaptation already in the casting stage.

Warner Bros’ Jungle Book marks the directorial debut for the critically acclaimed actor. Serkis previously worked with Peter Jackson on The Hobbit films in the Second Unit Direction team. Jackson entrusted Serkis with the job after he developed a command of CG technology through his acting prowess not only in the Lord of the Rings films, but also in Jackson’s King Kong, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin and the new Planet of the Apes movies.

Jungle Book tells the story of a boy is raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle with the help of Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther and then has to fight the tiger Shere Khan.