Ron Howard to direct 'The Jungle Book'?

Los Angeles: 'Rush' director Ron Howard is in talks to direct and produce Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book', about a boy, Mowgli, who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungles.

The live-action film by Warner Bros earlier had Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu on board but he left the project due to scheduling conflict, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Callie Kloves wrote the screenplay for 'The Jungle Book', based on a story from an 1894 collection of Kipling.

Kloves is the daughter of Steve Kloves, who wrote all of Warner Bros. 'Harry Potter' films and is on board to produce 'The Jungle Book'. Howard also would produce via his Imagine Entertainment as well as Imagine's Brian Grazer.

Set in the jungles of India, the story centers on Mowgli, an orphaned boy raised by wolves who befriends Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther as he spars with the ferocious tiger Sher Khan.

Disney is also coming up with its own live-action adaptation with Jon Favreau at the helm. Disney made an animated film on the book in 1967. Kipling's story is now in public domain hence both the studios can adapt it.