With production expected to begin soon on Disney’s live-action/CGI hybrid film The One And Only Ivan, the studio is putting the final touches on its star studded cast.
Iron Fist actor Ramon Rodriguez has now joined the cast, and will be playing an assistant to the malls owner (played by Bryan Cranston).
Rodriguez joins a cast that includes Angelina Jolie who is voicing Stella the elephant, Sam Rockwell voicing Ivan the Gorilla and The Florida Project star Brooklyn Prince who’s voicing Ruby a baby elephant, that Stella protects, Ariana Greenblatt who plays a lead human character and befriends Ivan. Bryan Cranston will play the owner of the mall and Greenblatt’s father.
Written by Katherine Applegate and published by HarperCollins in 2011, the book centers on a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lives in a cage in a shopping mall along with an elephant named Stella and a stray dog called Bob. Ivan does not remember life before the mall, but when a baby elephant named Stella enters and Ivan finds himself taking care of her, he begins to rediscover his previous life and concocts a plan to take the baby elephant away from their abusive owner.
Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) is set to direct the film, with Brigham Young (Cinderella) producing the project.
There is no official release date for the film as of yet.
