It's a story that has been told many times in many different forms, but the latest adaptation of The Jungle Book looks like it strips away the family-friendly nature of Rudyard Kipling's timeless novel.

Indeed, 'Mowgli' is described in its first trailer (below) as 'the darkest telling of the beloved masterpiece' to date, and the 2-minute clip certainly lives up to that billing - there are no cutesy singing bears here.

The Andy Serkis-directed film has a lot to live up to to rival Jon Favreau's 2016 live action Jungle Book, but with a cast including Benedict Cumberbatch (who voices the terrifying-looking tiger Shere Khan), Christian Bale (Bagheera the panther) and Cate Blanchett (Kaa the snake) and Serkis himself playing Baloo, it certainly looks worth a watch.

It's due for release on October 19th.

See the trailer below: