Robert Downey Jr. will play the character of Doctor Dolittle in Stephen Gaghans movie The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, based on the character from the 1920s series of childrens books by Hugh Lofting.
In the movie, Downey 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 hes able to talk to.
Stephen Gaghan, Oscar winner for Traffic script and Gold, will direct the film based on a script he wrote, with an earlier draft by Tom Shepherd. Universal has landed the rights to the project after multiple bids from studios.
The first big-screen adaptation starred Rex Harrison and was a musical, nominated for an Oscar for best picture and won for best original song and visual effects.
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.
The character originated in a set of books from Hugh Lofting in the 1920s and its unclear as to whether the new film will retain the same time period.
Downey will next be seen in this summers Spider-Man: Homecoming as well as Avengers: Infinity War the following year. Hes also set to return in Sherlock Holmes 3.
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