Here’s everything we know about Jumanji 3 so far. The next Jumanji movie will be a direct sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which itself was a partial continuation of the 1995 Jumanji film adaptation that starred the late Robin Williams.
The Jumanji brand kicked off in 1981 with Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrated children’s book of the same name. Allsburg’s story followed siblings Judy and Peter Shepherd as they find a play a magical board game that brings its jungle animals and setting to life in the real world. The 1995 movie adaptation also featured the Shepherds and introduced key characters like Alan Parrish (Williams), who’d been trapped in the Jumanji game for 26 years when Judy and Peter start playing. While the film was a box office success, it took more than two decades for a quasi-followup to be released, in the form of Welcome to the Jungle. Between then, however, there was a Jumanji cartoon series that aired from 1996-99 and drew from both Allsburg’s book and the 1995 film.
Welcome to the Jungle added a twist where Jumanji turns itself into a ’90s-era video game that sucks people into its setting and has them play as in-game avatars like Smolder Bravestone and Ruby Roundhouse. The film hit theaters in December 2017 and became a surprisingly huge box office success, with a global theatrical gross of $962 million. Needless to say, Sony quickly green-lit a sequel and has the third installment scheduled to arrive almost exactly two years after Welcome to the Jungle was released. Here’s what we know about the next Jumanji movie, at the moment.
Jumanji 3 Brings Back Welcome To The Jungle’s Cast & Crew
Jumanji 3 features the same main cast and crew as Welcome to the Jungle. That includes the five actors who portrayed Jumanji’s in-game avatars (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, and Nick Jonas) and the cast members who played the high schoolers that end up getting trapped in the world of Jumanji (Ser’Darius Blain, Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner). Meanwhile, behind the camera, Welcome to the Jungle director Jake Kasdan is calling the shots on Jumanji 3 from a screenplay by the previous film’s cowriters, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. The returning cast is joined here by series newcomers Awkwafina, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito in as yet undisclosed roles.
Jumanji 3’s Release Date Competes With Star Wars 9
The third Jumanji movie is scheduled to open this year on December 13, which is a week before Star Wars: Episode IX arrives. This isn’t the first time a Jumanji and Star Wars movie have competed at the box office, either. Back in 2017, Welcome to the Jungle opened a mere five days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi started its run and managed to hold its own against the Disney-Lucasfilm blockbuster, thanks largely to its positive word of mouth. Jumanji 3 is expected to enjoy a bigger opening than its predecessor did since it’ll be the first tentpole out of the gate this December. Whether it has anywhere near the legs of Welcome to the Jungle, however, is another matter.
Jumanji 3’s Story Could Explore The Game’s Origin
Plot-wise, all that’s really known right now is that Jumanji 3’s story involves the teenagers from Welcome to the Jungle. It’s possible the characters will try and find a way to permanently defeat Jumanji in the film, after they unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the game by smashing its cartridge in the previous film. That could lead to the teens learning more about where the game and/or world of Jumanji come from, in an effort to get rid of them for good. Further, Kasdan has said that Jumanji 3 will continue to include connections to the first Jumanji movie, like Welcome to the Jungle before it. Those may take on the form of additional references to Alan Parrish or possibly even how the Jumanji board game ended up in his hometown to begin with.
Production On Jumanji 3 Is Currently Underway
Jumanji 3 officially began filming on February 14, which is approximately ten months before the movie is slated to open in theaters. While that’s a pretty tight turn-around (even for a modern blockbuster), it’s doable and should give Kasdan and his crew just enough time to finish shooting and post-production before December gets here. Production should go faster this time around too, now that Kasdan has the experience he gained making Welcome to the Jungle under his belt. The movie shouldn’t look all that different from the second Jumanji adventure either, in terms of costumes, set pieces, and CGI animals. That will further help to speed things up on Jumanji 3, barring any unforeseen obstacles.
Jumanji 3 Doesn’t Have A Trailer Or Title Yet
Principal photography only started on Jumanji 3 last week (at the time of writing this), so it’s going to be a while before a trailer is released. The film doesn’t have a title yet either, but that’s also to be expected. After all, the second Jumanji film started production without an official title and didn’t even get one until Black suggested Welcome to the Jungle to Kasdan one day on-set. There aren’t too many other pop songs with “Jungle” in the title that lends themselves to the name of a Jumanji movie, either (though Jumanji: Cowboy in the Jungle and Jumanji: Concrete Jungle have a… certain ring to them). As such, Jumanji 3’s actual title may reflect more directly on the film’s plot than Welcome to the Jungle did.
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- Jumanji 3 Release Date: 2019-12-13
