One of the most cult actors of our generation, Bill Murray, is joining the fun in Disney’s new The Jungle Book. And he’s playing the best part: Baloo, the jovial bear. The live-action/animation combo/reboot, directed by Chef Jon Favreau, will be released in October 2015.

From reboots to sequels: but this one sounds undeniably cool. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: The Green Destiny will take place 20 years after the original, and Michelle Yeoh is back for more. Set to co-star alongside her is Glee’s Harry Shum Jr., who will play one of a fearsome foursome of martial arts masters charged with protecting a sacred sword from the evil hands of Hades Dai (awesome name).

It’s official: Maleficent’s Elle Fanning will lead A Storm in the Stars, the Mary Shelley biopic, which explores her pre-Frankenstein days and how she meets her husband Percy.

Lucy Fry will survive the bomb that was Vampire Academy with The Preppie Connection, about a high schooler from the wrong side of the tracks who starts dealing drugs to get in with the cool kids. Lucy will play Alexis, the most popular girl in school.

The best cameo of 2014 will be Iggy Azalea in Fast & Furious 7. Although this is the rap musician’s acting debut, she is in good company with fellow newcomers to the series Jason Statham, Ronda Rousey, Djimon Honsou, Romeo Santos and (our favorite) Kurt Russell.

The Shawshank Redemption’s Frank Darabont has been brought on to hone and direct Snow White and the Huntsman 2, which will in fact be a prequel entitled The Huntsman. Darabont also wrote the current draft of the script, which will recount how The Huntsman and Evil Queen first came together before the arrival of Snow White. Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron will be reprising their roles.

Actress and model Emily Ratajkowski will star alongside Zac Efron in We Are Your Friends, a love story involving a hot young DJ (Efron) and his influential mentor.

Last cool thing: All the Bright Places, based on an upcoming novel by Jennifer Niyen, about a suicidal young man who causes an impressionable girl to reevaluate her life. YA Princess du Jour Elle Fanning is attached.

IN DEVELOPMENT

Even though this isn’t totally original material, Skull Island does sound cool. Universal is developing an origin story for Mr. King Kong on the titular island. More details soon…

Let the monster mash continue: Universal is also developing a reboot of The Mummy, which will have nothing to do with the Brendan Fraser movies (or the 1932 classic, for that matter). This is part of a massive move to resuscitate all the classic Universal monsters, including “Dracula,” “Frankenstein,” and “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”.

Another exciting idea comes from the bestselling children’s book The Day the Crayons Quit, about a box of crayons who go on strike. Brilliant, no? The white crayon has an existential crisis, the black crayon wishes he were more colorful, the pink crayon is sick of coloring only princess dresses…

Based on the 1974 YA novel by Lois Duncan, genre moviehouse Lionsgate is working on Down A Dark Hall, about a new arrival at a boarding school who discovers that the institution harbors a dark and supernatural secret. Stephenie Twilight Meyers and Meghan Hibbett are producing.