‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ Sequel Hitting Theaters In Winter 2019
You knew it was coming. It was inevitable. AnotherJumanjisequel is on its way.Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, both a sequel and a reboot of the originalJumanji, was a massive hit for Sony, and they can’t say no to a good thing.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungleracked up good reviews and even better box office – it grossed more than $956 million worldwide – so it was only a matter of time before Sony went ahead and gave it a sequel. And now they have, with plans for a winter 2019 release. During Sony’s presentation at CinemaCon, Sony Pictures motion picture group chairmanTom Rothmanannounced, “I’d bet on seeingDwayne Johnson in theaters again in December 2019.”
Of course, Johnson is so busy and in so many movies this could technically refer toanything, but it’sJumanjiRothman is talking about here. TheJumanjisequel news came in the midst of Sony’s big CinemaCon presentation, which also included talk of Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time In Hollywood(which included a presentation appearance from Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt), theDragon TattoosequelThe Girl in the Spider’s Web, the animatedSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and more.
The firstJumanji, inspired by the illustrated Chris Van Allsburg book, hit theaters in 1995.The Rocketeerdirector Joe Johnston helmed the story about a board game that had the power to suck a player into its world, and also to unleash parts of that world out into our own.Robin Williamsstarred, and many scenes of CGI animals smashing through walls followed.
After that,Jumanjilay dormant until the 21st century, when Sony decided to give it a facelift. The end-result was 2017’sJumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Both a sequel and a reboot,Welcome to the Junglechanged Jumanji from a board game to a video game, and featured a story about a group of teens who get transported into the a jungle world, and have to play the game to escape. The film featured Dwayne Johnson,Jack Black,Kevin Hart, andKaren Gillan, and was surprisingly very entertaining, and funny. Black in particular garnered a lot of laughs playing a teen girl trapped in the body of, well, Jack Black.
/Film writer Karen Han was spot-on whens hecalled the movie"the purest, silliest form of escapist art." Not only wasWelcome to the Junglesurprisingly good, it was also a surprise smash-hit. It ended up becoming Sony’shighest grossingnon-Spider-Manmovie. Now Sony will attempt to recapture that box office magic and turnJumanjiinto a full-fledged franchise.
