The Dolittle character posters have arrived. Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the cast shared the new posters on social media earlier today. The posters all feature Downey Jr. next to his CGI animal buddy that helps him on his new adventure. Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, Kumail Nanjiani, John Cena, Emma Thompson, Selena Gomez, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Craig Robinson, Marion Cotillard, and Tom Holland all received their own posters with RDJ for the movie.
After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria's England, hermits himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen (Jessie Buckley) falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures.
The doctor is joined on his quest by a young, self-appointed apprentice (Harry Collett) and a raucous coterie of animal friends, including an anxious gorilla (Rami Malek), an enthusiastic but bird-brained duck (Octavia Spencer), a bickering duo of a cynical ostrich (Kumail Nanjiani) and an upbeat polar bear (John Cena) and a headstrong parrot (Emma Thompson), who serves as Dolittle's most trusted advisor and confidante. These character posters provide some insight into what Dolittle's relationship is with each character. For instance, in Tom Holland's poster for Jip, Dolittle looks almost like a father reading to his son, which mirrors the relationship that Holland and Robert Downey Jr. have in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the relationship they had before Tony Stark passed away. That's still kind of a touchy subject.
Dolittle was first announced in 2017 with Robert Downey Jr. attached to star and produce. However, the actor's commitments to Marvel Studios made him a lot busier than he anticipated. With that being said, principal production started in 2018 and everything seemed to go smoothly until the test screenings came back negative. Reshoots were scheduled for April 2019 to try and restructure and salvage the movie. During the reshoot process, extensive rewriting took place. The movie is now set to hit theaters in January 2020.
Dolittle also stars Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen and Jim Broadbent and features additional voice performances from Marion Cotillard, Frances de la Tour, Carmen Ejogo, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, Tom Holland, and Craig Robinson. Directed by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic), Dolittle is produced by Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum under their Roth/Kirschenbaum Films (Alice in Wonderland) and Susan Downey (Sherlock Holmes franchise) for Team Downey. The film is executive produced by Robert Downey Jr., Sarah Bradshaw (Maleficent) and Zachary Roth (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil). You can check out the Dolittle character posters below, thanks to the Dolittle Twitter account.
