Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan, co-written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner, and starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Bobby Cannavale. It is the third installment of the Jumanji franchise, after Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), and a direct sequel to Jumanji (1995), which was based on the 1981 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. The story focuses on a group of teenagers who come across Jumanji—now transformed into a video game—twenty-one years after the events of the 1995 film. They find themselves trapped in the game as a set of adult avatars, seeking to complete a quest alongside another player who has been trapped since 1996.

Principal photography began in Honolulu in September 2016 and ended in Atlanta in December, with the film containing notable references to the first film as a tribute to its lead actor Robin Williams. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 20 by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humor and performances. The movie grossed over $962 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017. The sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, was released in December 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 discovered it at the coast while jogging. Uninterested, Alex sets it aside, only to find it transformed into a video game cartridge later that night. Opting to play the game, he is suddenly sucked inside upon choosing a character. His disappearance results in his father becoming despondent and their home falling into disrepair. Twenty years later, in 2016, four Brantford High School students – rebellious Martha Kaply, shallow Bethany Walker, awkward Spencer Gilpin, and athlete Anthony “Fridge” Johnson – are sent by Principal Bentley to clean the school’s basement for detention – Bethany for talking on her phone during a quiz, Martha for saying the life of a gym teacher is not important in life, and Spencer and Fridge for the former writing the latter’s essay assignment for him as it was considered cheating.

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Fridge discovers Alex’s discarded video game system, which he and Spencer decide to play and encourage the girls to join them. Upon starting the game, they are sucked into Jumanji, landing in a jungle as their chosen characters – Spencer as muscular explorer and archaeologist Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone; Fridge as diminutive zoologist Franklin “Mouse” Finbar; Martha as martial arts expert Ruby Roundhouse; and Bethany as male cartographer and paleontologist Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon. While coming to terms with their situation, the group find three marks on their arms denoting lives. Spencer theorizes that if they lose all three, they will die in real life. The group encounter the game’s non-player character guide Nigel Billingsly, who provides them with the game’s narrative and their characters’ backstories. The group learn that their goal is to end a curse on Jumanji, brought about by corrupt archaeologist Professor Russell Van Pelt

after he stole a magical jewel called the “Jaguar’s Eye” from its shrine and gained control of all the jungle’s animals, casting a terrible curse upon Jumanji. Nigel hands Spencer the jewel, having stolen it from Van Pelt, and before driving off he instructs the group to return it to a statue at 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 Spencer and Fridge’s animosity towards each other, the group encounter Alex operating the fifth avatar – pilot Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough – who takes them to a treehouse that Alan Parrish built during his tenure in Jumanji after saving them from Van Pelt’s men. Upon realizing his identity, the group is collectively shocked upon learning how long he has been trapped in the game, although Alex thought he’d only been there a few months. Now with a common goal, the group vows to help Alex return home with them.

Development.

Plans for a Jumanji sequel were put ahead 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 may 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. 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 pitched his own version of the sequel that was said to have utilized the full potential of the board game and would’ve 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 retrieve Williams for the sequel, Sony passed on the project and moved on to develop Zathura.

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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.

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. 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, Visual effects, Release.

Principal photography began on September 19, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, primarily at the Kualoa Ranch nature reserve. The film wrapped on December 8 in Atlanta, Georgia. The visual effects are provided by Iloura and Supervised by Glenn Melenhorst with help from Moving Picture Company, Ollin VFX and Rodeo FX. Sony initially gave the film a release date of December 25, 2016. Since filming did not begin until September 2016, the release was pushed back to July 28 and then to December 20, 2017. Amazon Prime members in the United States could access to tickets for a December 8 screening of the film at select Regal, National Amusements, ArcLight Cinemas and AMC theaters. The screenings sold out at 1,200 theaters and earned $1.9 million. The film was released on IMAX 2D on January 12, 2018. In India, the film was released in English, Tamil, Hindi & Telugu languages on December 20, while in China, the film was released on December 29.

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Media, Box office.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was released on Digital HD on March 6, 2018, and on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D (excluding North America) and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 20, although the film was still in theaters. The Blu-ray and digital versions include two additional featurettes: “Surviving the Jungle: Spectacular Stunts!” and “Book to Board Game to Big Screen & Beyond! Celebrating The Legacy of Jumanji”. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle grossed $404.6 million in the United States and Canada and $557.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $962.1 million. On April 10, 2018, the film passed Spider-Man ($403.7 million) to become Sony’s highest-grossing film domestically. On December 25, 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home surpassed the film at $405 million to become Sony’s highest-grossing film domestically. Deadline Hollywood calculated its net profit as $305.7 million when factoring all expenses and revenues, making it 2017’s fourth-most-profitable release.

Cast:

Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander “Smolder”
Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin
Kevin Hart as Franklin “Mouse”
Ser’Darius Blain as Anthony “Fridge” Johnson.
Jack Black as Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon
Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker
Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse
Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply.
Nick Jonas as Jefferson “Seaplane”
Colin Hanks as Alex Vreeke
Rhys Darby as Nigel Billingsley
Bobby Cannavale as Van Pelt.