The announcement of the upcoming film reboot of the 1967 classic "Dr. Dolittle" series made waves in March last year, and it was revealed that "Avengers" star Robert Downey Jr. was chosen to portray the main character.
News regarding the film's production remains scarce, but it has been confirmed that the movie is being directed by Stephen Gaghan ("Traffic," "Syriana"), and will be produced by Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and RDJ's wife, Susan Downey.
For the latest version of the film, Downey will be accompanied by his "Avengers" co-star and Marvel neophyte Tom Holland, who has another voice-acting role coming up in 20th Century Fox's animated spy comedy "Spies in Disguise" alongside Will Smith.
Holland's role in the movie is yet to be revealed but it is rumored that he will be playing one of the animals involved with the titular character.
Other veteran movie stars who have been enlisted in the project are Emma Thompson, who has voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney's 2017 blockbuster "Beauty and the Beast," Antonio Banderas, who has found success in his voice acting roles such as Puss in Boots in "Shrek 2," which spawned a spinoff movie based on his character. Ralph Fiennes, who has voiced Alfred Pennyworth in "The Lego Batman Movie" is also set to do voice work for the film.
It has been revealed that Banderas, in spite of his current résumé being padded by doing voice work, will be portraying one of the human characters, as well as Welsh actor Michael Sheen.
The latest big name to join the growing list of stars in the movie is singer/actress Selena Gomez, who is confirmed to be playing another one of the animals in the film, according to AV Club.
"Dr. Dolittle" is a collection of stories based on Victorian-era doctor John Dolittle, who has the ability to speak to animals, thus his preference of treating them instead of his human patients.
The movie is scheduled for an April 2019 release.
