Robert Downey Jr is set to play Doctor Dolittle in a new film based on the Hugh Lofting character.
In The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, the Iron Man star will follow in the footsteps of Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy in the role of a physician who lives with a variety of animals that he’s able to talk to. There was a competitive battle for the project with Universal ultimately winning out.
The project will be written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, who won an Oscar for his Traffic script and most recently directed Matthew McConaughey in Gold.
The character originated in a set of books from Hugh Lofting in the 1920s and it’s unclear as to whether the new film will retain the same time period. The first big-screen adaptation saw Rex Harrison take on the role and it picked up a nomination for best picture at the Oscars.
In 1998, Eddie Murphy played the character and the film was a hit, making $294m worldwide which led to a less successful big-screen follow-up and three later sequels which were released direct to video.
Downey will next be seen in this summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming as well as Avengers: Infinity War the following year. He’s also set to return in Sherlock Holmes 3.
