Dwayne Johnson Explains Why 'Jumanji' Will Be a Sequel, Not a Reboot
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is currently committed to a borderline-insane number of upcoming projects that are sure to keep him busy for years to come. He’s just wrapped filming on Fast 8 with some notable drama, but the actor is already looking ahead to another one of his big-budget ventures, and in a recent online post, he made sure to clarify the exact nature of that highly anticipated film.
The movie in question is Jumanji, which early reports had suggested would be something of a reboot of the 1995 original that starred the late Robin Williams as a man who’s freed from a magical jungle-set board game after decades of captivity and must help two children deal with the appearance of that game’s animal-kingdom inhabitants in their living room. We already know that Johnson will be joined in the project by his Central Intelligence co-star Kevin Hart as well as Jack Black. And now, the Rock has made it clear that the film will not be a reimagining at all but, rather, a straightforward follow-up that pays tribute to its predecessor. In his Instagram post (viewable below), he writes:
“Yo.. Lots of positive chatter now on something I should’ve clarified months ago when we announced we were making JUMANJI.
“This new movie will NOT be a remake or reboot of the original. It will be a CONTINUATION of the awesome JUMANJI adventure 20 years later.
As a producer on this movie and someone who loves the original, you have my word we’ll honor the legend of “Alan Parrish” and properly introduce a whole new generation to the fun and crazy JUMANJI universe that so many of us loved and grew up on. Our director Jake Kasdan and lead producer Matt Tohlmach are focused and ready go. They also have no f—ing idea what they’ve gotten themselves into by hiring Me, Kevin Hart and Jack Black a.k.a. “The Cray Cray Triplets” as the stars of this movie. Shooting begins in 4 weeks.”
While production hasn’t yet begun on Jumanji, Johnson will no doubt be a welcome guest in Hawaii — where, as he says in his post, he grew up, and used to steal candy bars from a local store on the way to the gym. In the meantime, he can next be heard voicing demi-god Maui in Disney’s upcoming Moana (out Nov. 23), and then he’’ll rejoin Vin Diesel and company for Fast 8 on April 14, 2017.
