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Luther star Idris Elba voice of the villainous Shere Khan in a remake of The Jungle Book.

The 41-year-old actor - who recently played the late Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom - has signed up to Disney's live-action remake of the classic children's film.

According to Deadline, the star, who also appeared in Thor: The Dark World, is in final negotiations to perform the role and provide the voice of the animal.

Shere Khan is the tiger stalks young Mowgli after deciding to kill him, because the 'man cub' is too much of a threat.

The movie will be a mix of live action and video special effects that is being overseen by Oscar-winner, Rob Legato, whose work includes the special effects extravaganza, Avatar.

Production designers Alex McDowell and Chris Glass will lead a team of concept artists, while the story team will be headed up by Iron Man's David Lowery.

Disney is in a box-office race with Warner Brothers on who will release a version of Rudyard Kipling's famous title first.

Warner Brothers, however, are still searching for a director after Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu dropped out of the project.

Meanwhile, Idris, who has become an in-demand star in the past year, will also soon appear in the Cary Fukunaga-directed Beasts Of No Nation.

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