Disney’s 20th Century Studios is developing a new film called “Children of the Jungle”, which is based on investigative journalist Mat Youkee’s book “Forty Days in the Jungle”.

The book tells the extraordinary, gripping survival story that also reveals the struggles for social justice of the Indigenous people of Colombia and the Amazon.

In June 2023, four children — Lesly, Soleiny, Tien, and Crispin — were found alive in the Colombian Amazon, forty days after the aircraft they were travelling in had crashed and killed the three adults on board (the pilot, the co-pilot, and the children’s mother). The eldest child, thirteen-year-old Lesly, took the decision to leave her dying mother, gather her siblings — aged nine, five, and eleven months — and head into the jungle. She kept herself and her siblings alive for forty days and nights, finally emerging when heavily armed soldiers closed in, yelling her name above the sound of barking dogs.

Forty Days in the Junglefollows the compelling characters involved in the crash and what followed: Maria Fatima Valencia, the children’s grandmother, who had taught Lesly how to survive in the jungle; General Pedro Sánchez who led the rescue team; the shady figure of Manuel Ranoque, the father of the two youngest children; and even the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro.

But there is much more to this than an extraordinary survival story. Interwoven chapters address key questions about Colombian and Latin American history, society, and political economy — the answers to which shed light on the socio-political state of much of the world today. Colombia’s problems mirror, in many ways, the rising Global South in its 21st-century struggles against colonial histories and a globalised world.

The upcoming film is going to be produced by Giannina Scott, through her Cara Films banner alongside Scott Free’s Ridley Scott and President of Film Michael Pruss. Giannina Scott brought the project to Scott Free last May, having winning a competitive auction for Youkee’s book proposal.

Roberto Bentivegna has joined the project to write the script. He has previously worked with Giannina Scott on “House of Gucci”.

No other details on the upcoming film have been revealed, such as who may star in it, or when it will be released, either in cinemas or directly onto Hulu and Disney+.

Are you interested in a “Children Of The Jungle” movie? Let me know on social media!

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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