Finally finding an application for his sultry, feline voice besides purring about the virtues of mediocre gin, Idris Elba is in final talks to play Shere Khan in Jon Favreau’s upcoming “live-action” Jungle Book. Still, amend your expectations: Yes, “live-action” sort of suggests we’d see Elba wearing face-painted whiskers—or maybe a paper plate streaked orange-and-black—in the tradition of your local elementary school’s own, “live-action” Jungle Book. But this is a big, blockbuster Disney movie, meaning Elba will mostly just be heard as the “live-action,” computer-generated man-eating tiger, and you’ll have to provide your own orange drink. Still, that shouldn’t stop you from making Wire jokes (“Is you taking notes on an animal fucking conspiracy?” and so on), or referring to this Jungle Book reboot as “the one with Idris Elba,” and Ron Howard’s as the one without.
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