Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan are back for the final Jumanji, and this time the game escapes its console. It’s only in cinemas from December 23.
For two films now, the rule of Jumanji has been simple. You get sucked into the game, you survive the jungle, you get out. Jumanji: Open World flips that. The new trailer, which you can watch below, shows the game breaking out of its console and taking its chaos into our world. It’s the final film in the trilogy, and it’s coming only in cinemas on December 23.
The gang’s all here, one last time
The core four are back. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan return as the avatars who made Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level such crowd-pleasers. Their real-world counterparts are back too: Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain and Madison Iseman. Nick Jonas returns, and so does Danny DeVito, whose cranky energy was one of the best things about the last film.
Johnson turning up in a December release is pretty much a holiday tradition by now. He’s had a busy run of festive blockbusters, Red One included. If you’ve ever wondered just how bankable the man is, we once worked out that sausage dogs have out-grossed him at the box office. Clearly, Jumanji is his chance to even the score.
Familiar hands behind the camera
Jake Kasdan, who directed both earlier films, is in charge again. That kind of continuity usually helps a franchise keep its tone. He co-wrote the script with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. The story is still based on Chris Van Allsburg’s original book Jumanji, and Van Allsburg is credited as an executive producer. Matt Tolmach, Kasdan, Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia produce.
The new set-up is the clever part. A big reason the reboots worked was the jokes about stars stuck in the wrong bodies, playing up video game clichés. Moving the mayhem into the real world gives the series fresh ground for its farewell, and the trailer suggests the jokes have come along too.
This is the last game, and it’s only showing on the big screen. Watch the trailer, round up the family and get December 23 in the diary, because Jumanji: Open World is making a strong case for your Christmas trip to the cinema.
