Even though FX has renewed The Americans for season four, Matthew Rhys, who plays undercover KGB operative Philip Jennings on the show, appears to be laying a safety net just in case the Cold War ends sooner than expected. Deadline reports the star is in talks to join the cast of Warner Bros.’ Andy Serkis-helmed The Jungle Book film. (This is not to be confused with Disney’s Jungle Book project, which will feature the somber voice of Bill Murray as Baloo, along with Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Idris Elba, who have also graciously offered up their vocal cords for the film.)
The Warner Bros. Jungle Book proudly boasts the voices of Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, and Cate Blanchett, with first-time director Serkis stepping in after both Alejandro González Iñárritu and Ron Howard declined. Serkis is also producing with Harry Potter writer Steve Kloves and Jonathan Cavendish, Serkis’ partner at their Imaginarium production company. Callie Kloves, Steve’s daughter, wrote the adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel.
With so many marquee names flying around both projects—Jon Favreau is directing the Disney one, by the way—it would be unsurprising if Rhys ends up in the wrong film and everyone shrugs because the whole ordeal is just becoming too complicated anyway. For now though, Rhys is Warner Bros.’ latest X factor in these tensely escalating Jungle Book Wars.