WATCH: The new dark Mowgli movie ain't no fairy tale...

Mowgli.

The first trailer has landed for Mowgli, and it's a world away from Disney's cuddly take on The Jungle Book in 1967.

Directed by Planet of the Apes actor Andy Serkis, the new film follows Disney's 2016 musical remake of its classic animation.

But Serkis's film, which bills itself as "the darkest telling of the beloved masterpiece", promises to get back to the heart of Rudyard Kipling's original 1894 book.

Mowgli is the new version of The Jungle Book. Photo / Youtube

"We wanted to engage much more closely with the tone of the book," says Serkis.

"It's not so much a child's fairy tale... this is definitely drawn from Kipling and has a much darker approach to the story-telling. There's no singing or dancing from the animals, that's for sure."

The trailer shows child actor Rohan Chand as Mowgli, weeping as he rattles the bars of a cage, while the black panther Bagheera (voiced by Christian Bale) offers him advice.

Other voice actors bringing this dark vision of the jungle to life include Cate Blanchett as Kaa the snake, Benedict Cumberbatch as the tiger Shere Khan and Serkis as Baloo the bear.

"In Kipling's book [Baloo] is completely different to what people would expect," Serkis has said. "He's much more like a drill sergeant, who really pushes Mowgli... People have such strong preconceptions about the characters and the story. This will shatter those preconceptions."

Mowgli is out in UK cinemas from October 19.