Movies help the stories we read come to life, and now the magical game of Jumanji is coming back with a reboot starring a big name.
After speculation at the MTV Movie Awards, where cohosts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart expressed their interest in lead roles in the upcoming reboot of the classic 1995 film, last weekend Johnson confirmed his involvement with the Sony reboot on his Instagram.
Johnson seems extremely excited to bring this classic story to a whole new generation of viewers, noting his current involvement on working on the script with Seven Bucks Productions. Johnson is currently slated to be busy with other notable modern remakes such as Baywatch and Rampage.
Jumanji was based on the 1981 picture book written by Chris Van Allsburg. The story follows two children’s adventure with a board game like never before. Unlike most games, Jumanji must be played until the game officially ends with the winner reaching the end point and speaking the name of the game. The catch? Everything they experience in the game becomes very real, bringing forth exotic creatures and introducing a lot of danger into their lives.
The 1995 movie adaptation starred Robin Williams and a young Kirsten Dunst. The movie stuck to the classic story line, strongly emphasizing that players never truly escape the game unless Jumanji is spoken by the winner. For the time it was released, the movie captured the dangers of the game well with the incorporation of the various wildlife that invaded the children’s home as they tried to complete the game. With the technology of today’s films, it should be interesting to see the new spin this movie adaptation will put on this story.
Jumanji will be directed by Jake Kasdan, who previously directed Bad Teacher, and Matt Tolmach, who worked on Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man. No other cast members have been officially announced yet.
Jumanji is slated to bring the game back to theaters on July 28, 2017.
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