Andy Serkis' The Jungle Book film delayed until 2017

The release of British actor-turned-director Andy Serkis' star-studded movie adaptation of The Jungle Book has been pushed back a year.

Jungle Book: Origins was scheduled to open in theaters in late 2016, but studio bosses at Warner Bros. have now delayed the film until October, 2017.

Serkis will make his directorial debut with the ambitious, live-action version of the beloved Rudyard Kipling tale, which will feature the voices of Christian Bale as orphan boy Mowgli's panther friend Bagheera, Cate Blanchett as python Kaa, Benedict Cumberbatch as villainous tiger Shere Khan and Serkis as Baloo the bear. Lone Survivor actor Rohan Chand will portray Mowgli.

Naomie Harris, Tom Hollander, Eddie Marsan and Peter Mullan have also signed on to the project.

The new 2017 date means the film will premiere two years after the planned release of Jon Favreau's rival production for Disney.

His The Jungle Book, starring Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Sir Ben Kingsley, Christopher Walken and Lupita Nyong'o, is currently filming and is due for release next year (15).