Robert Downey Jr. Shares Full Cast List for The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle

Somehow, we’re getting a new Doctor Dolittle film. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle film will be based on author Hugh Lofting‘s second Doctor Dolittle book which was published in 1922 (it’s worth noting the second entry was almost twice as long as the first).

Universal Pictures won the rights to the project last year, after some hot bidding action rose up. Stephen Gagan is both writing and directing the film, which is interesting considering it’s a family-friendly theme (we’re assuming), and Gagan’s previous filmography is anything but. He won the 2001 Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Oscar for his Traffic script, and was nominated in 2006 for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Syriana, so you can see what I mean there.

The news today is that Robert Downey Jr. tweeted out an image with what looks like almost the full cast list. It was unclear if the Doctor Dolittle feature would be live action with CG elements or practical effects, and that remains unclear. We’re assuming it’ll be similar to the 1998 Eddie Murphy version, but perhaps told in the true-to-period way, more like the 1967 Rex Harrison musical version.

I personally am over the moon with Emma Thompson on board as Polysia, as she is one of my favorite animal characters from the original film. How perfect is that?

IMDB lists Doctor Dolittle as currently being in production, with a release date set as April 12th, 2019.