Andy Serkis has shared the first official footage from his new Jungle Book movie Mowgli.

Appearing on ITV’s This Morning on Monday (May 21), the motion-capture genius – who is best-known for his performances in Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes trilogy and Star Wars – spoke about the project, which looks to be much darker than Disney’s recent adaption.

Serkis told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that this version of the story – which he directs and stars in as the bear Baloo – will be ‘much closer to the tone of Rudyard Kipling’s book, reports digitalspy.com.

He also said that the film will challenge people’s preconceptions of the story, with Baloo being like a ‘drill sergeant’ figure to Mowgli. He added that in contrast to Disney’s recent live-action adaptation, this one will see Mogwli try to assimilate himself into the new surroundings.

Last year, Serkis spoke to Digital Spy about how Mowgli will be different from other versions of The Jungle Book, stating: ‘The ambition for this project is huge. What we are attempting is an unprecedented level of psychological and emotional nuance in morphing the phenomenal performances of our cast into the facial expressions of our animals.’

The film will feature motion-caption and voiceover performances from Christian Bale as Bagheera the panther, Cate Blanchett as Kaa the python, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan the tiger.