Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American action-adventure film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner. The film is the third installment in the Jumanji film series, a sequel to Jumanji (1995) and its spin-off film Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005). It stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan, with Nick Jonas, Rhys Darby, and Bobby Cannavale in supporting roles.
The story focuses on a group of teenagers who come across Jumanji, now transformed into a video game nearly thirty years after the original film's events. They find themselves trapped inside the game as a set of adult avatars, seeking to complete a treacherous quest alongside another player who has been trapped in it since recovering and playing it in 1996. Principal photography began in Honolulu in September 2016 and ended in Atlanta in December.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017, and was released in the United States on December 20 by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, and grossed $963million, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017. A sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, was released in 2019.
Plot
In 1996, Brantford, New Hampshire, teenager Alex Vreeke receives Jumanji, which was previously disposed of by Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle in 1969, from his father, who found it on the coast. Only interested in video games, he sets the boardgame aside. Later that night, Alex finds it transformed into a video game cartridge. Opting to play, he is sucked inside the game, disappearing from the real world as time continues to pass, thus leaving his parents and their house in a disheveled state.
Twenty-one years later, four Brantford High School students, awkward Spencer Gilpin, athletic Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, ditzy Bethany Walker, and cynical Martha Kaply are given detention – Fridge and Spencer for cheating on their assignments, Bethany for video calling during class, and Martha for insulting the gym teacher. After finding Alex's discarded video game system and starting it up, the group is sucked into Jumanji, landing in a jungle as their chosen avatars – Spencer as muscular archaeologist Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone, Fridge as diminutive zoologist Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, Bethany as male, overweight cartographer and paleontologist Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon, and Martha as sultry martial arts expert Ruby Roundhouse. Three marks on their arms denote their lives in the game, making them afraid that if they lose all three, they will actually die.
The group's goal is to end a curse on Jumanji, brought about by a corrupt archaeologist, Professor Russell Van Pelt after he stole a magical jewel called the "Jaguar's Eye" and gained control of the jungle's animals. They must return the jewel to the shrine and call out "Jumanji" to lift the curse and leave the game.
Coping with their avatars, their "weaknesses", Van Pelt's men, and their own group dynamics as they begin their journey, they encounter Alex in the form of a fifth avatar – pilot Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough – who takes them to a treehouse that Alan built during his tenure in Jumanji. Alex thinks he has only been stuck in the game for a couple of months; everyone, including him, is shocked to realize he has been there for two decades. The group coordinate with each other's strengths and work together to overcome the game's obstacles. They manage to return the jewel to the statue and break the curse, defeating Van Pelt and therefore completing the game before returning to the real world.
Back in the present, the group finds the Vreeke home restored and lively from its previous state after Alex's disappearance. They meet Alex, now an adult, who explains that he returned to 1996, allowing him to live his life. He remained in Brantford and now leads a married life with two children; his daughter is named after Bethany to honor her after she had saved him by sacrificing one of her own lives in the game.
The four students form an unlikely friendship after their experiences in the game, having bonded and become better people, including Spencer and Martha beginning a relationship. Soon, after hearing drumbeat sounds coming from the game, they destroy the game to prevent it from endangering anyone else.
Cast
Dwayne Johnson as Spencer Gilpin: An intelligent, but unconfident and neurotic high school student. In Jumanji, he is transformed into Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone, a strong, confident archaeologist and explorer who has no weaknesses. Alex Wolff as Spencer in the real world Kevin Hart as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson: A high school football player whose friendship with Spencer has deteriorated due to their different social statuses. In Jumanji, he is transformed into Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, a diminutive zoologist and weapons carrier whose weaknesses include strength, speed, and cake. Ser'Darius Blain as Fridge in the real world Jack Black as Bethany Walker: A popular and vain high school student. In Jumanji, she is transformed into Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon, an overweight male expert in many scientific fields such as cartography, archaeology, palaeontology, and cryptography who has a weakness to endurance. Madison Iseman as Bethany in the real world Karen Gillan as Martha Kaply: A quiet and shy high school student with a cynical intellect. In Jumanji, she is transformed into Ruby Roundhouse, an explorer and martial arts expert, including capoeira; and has a weakness to venom. Morgan Turner as Martha in the real world Rhys Darby as Nigel Billingsley: An NPC in Jumanji who serves as the primary guide for its players Bobby Cannavale as Russell Van Pelt, a corrupt archaeologist and former partner of Bravestone's. He is a reimagined version of the Van Pelt character from the original film. He is credited as Russell Van Pelt in the American version of the film, and John Hardin Van Pelt in the British version of the film. Nick Jonas as Alex Vreeke: A teenager who has been trapped in Jumanji since 1996. In the game, he is transformed into Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough, an aircraft pilot with a weakness to mosquitoes. Mason Guccione as teenage Alex and Colin Hanks as adult Alex in the real world. Hanks was uncredited for his role.
Additionally, Marin Hinkle, Tracey Bonner, and Natasha Charles Packer play the mothers of Spencer, Fridge, and Bethany respectively. Appearing as staff members of Brantford High School are Marc Evan Jackson as Principal Bentley, Carlease Burke as history teacher Miss Mathers, Missi Pyle as gym teacher Coach Webb, and Maribeth Monroe as Bethany's English teacher. Kat Altman portrays Bethany's friend Lucinda and Michael Shacket portrays Spencer's friend Fussfeld. Alex's father is played by Sean Buxton in 1996 and an uncredited Tim Matheson in the present day. In Jumanji, William Tokarsky and Rohan Chand appear as a food vendor and a boy, respectively, in the marketplace.
Production Development Plans for a Jumanji sequel were put forward by Sony Pictures Entertainment in the late 1990s. As reported by Ain't It Cool News, a stand-alone sequel entitled Jumanji 2 was in development in 1999. The plot of the story involved John Cooper, the President of the United States, buying Jumanji from an old antique store in Europe and bringing it to the White House to play it with his children (one of whom, Butch, just wants a dad, not a President for a father). Cooper then gets sucked into the world of Jumanji, paving the way for his evil Vice President, who was supposed to be played by Steve Buscemi, to rise to power as Cooper's replacement. Inside the game, Cooper would have teamed up with hybrid animals, which were going to be animated with CGI; Sony Pictures Consumer Products executive VP of worldwide consumer products Peter Dang revealed prototype drawings of animals that might have appeared in the film, all designed by Ken Ralston, who served as visual effects supervisor in the original film and was planned to make his directorial debut with Jumanji 2, slated for a Christmas 2000 release date. The first film's co-writer, Jonathan Hensleigh, had written the initial draft. Ralston eventually stepped down and the project stalled, albeit the DVD commentary of the first film still references a sequel directed by Ralston.Jumanji DVD commentary (dvd). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Several other directors and writers came and went on the project, including Steve Oedekerk, Adam Rifkin, David S. Ward, Don Rhymer, and the original author Chris Van Allsburg. Then in 2002, a new iteration of the sequel was reported by Variety. Director Dennis Dugan had pitched his own version of the sequel that was said to have used the full potential of the board game and would have brought back Robin Williams, who Dugan believed would have more comedic opportunity. Peter Ackerman was being looked at to write. When they were unable to interest Williams in the sequel, Sony passed on the project and moved on to develop Zathura.
In July 2012, rumors circulated that a remake of Jumanji was in development. Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad said: "We're going to try and reimagine Jumanji and update it for the present". It was confirmed on August 1 that Matthew Tolmach would produce the new version with William Teitler (who produced the original film). In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the film was scheduled for release on December 25, 2016. Online reception to the news was negative, with some saying that the announcement came too soon after the death of Robin Williams in August 2014 (who played Alan Parrish in the original film). The announcement was criticized by Bradley Pierce (who played Peter Shepherd in Jumanji) and by E! News, which called the remake "unnecessary and kind of insulting". Scott Rosenberg was hired in October 2015 to rewrite the script for the film, whose production was a high priority for the studio. Jake Kasdan was hired to direct the film the following year in January from a script by Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner based on a draft by original writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
The film's complete title, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, was confirmed in Cinemacon 2017 held in March. Its plot involved teenagers cleaning out a school's basement, who find a vintage video-game version of Jumanji and are sucked into the first film's jungle setting. Although fans debated whether the film was a sequel or a reboot, the second trailer (released that September) indicated that the sequel is set 21 years after the first. Dwayne Johnson noted that the film was inspired by classic video games of the 1990s. The film had used the working title "Jumanji" and the final title and the use of the song "Welcome to the Jungle" was suggested by Jack Black.
Casting Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were in early talks in April 2016 to star in the film (although both actors had other projects at the time). Johnson confirmed his casting on Instagram later that month. In July, Nick Jonas joined the film's cast with Johnson, Hart, and Jack Black. Black and Hart were paid $5 and $10 million for their involvement, respectively. The following month, Johnson said that the film would not be a reboot but a continuation of the 1995 film; Karen Gillan was announced as part of the cast. On September 20, Ser'Darius Blain was cast as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson and Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker. Two days later, Rhys Darby was cast as Nigel Billingsley, Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply, and Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin. In November, Bobby Cannavale announced his casting in the film, and in December, Tim Matheson joined the cast as Old Man Vreeke.
Filming
Principal photography began on September 19, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, primarily at the Kualoa Ranch nature reserve. Filming wrapped on December 8 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Music