Ben Kingsley joins the cast of Disney's Jungle Book reboot

Ben Kingsley has joined the cast of The Jungle Book. The Oscar winner will voice the role of Bagheera, the black panther who, in the 1967 Disney classic, tries to take Mowgli back to the man village, according to Deadline.

The Schindler's List and Gandhi actor will join Luther star Idris Elba in the movie.

Idris has previously been announced as the voice of the tiger Shere Khan in the film, which is being directed by Jon Favreau and is due out next year.

The new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel, also made by Disney, is set to combine live-action and CGI.

An actor has not yet been cast as Mowgli for the reboot of the animated film but Lupita Nyong'o and Scarlett Johansson are in talks to voice some of the other animals. Oscar-winning actress Lupita is said to be in negotiations for Raksha, the mother wolf who adopts the young boy Mowgli, while Scarlett is in talks to play the hypnotising python Kaa.

It is one of two new projects underway to adapt the classic Kipling book, with Andy Serkis set to direct another version of Jungle Book being developed by Warner Bros.

British actor Kingsley recently completed filming action adventure Robot Overlords alongside Gillian Anderson and the thriller Eliza Graves with Michael Caine and Kate Beckinsale.

- PA