In Christmas 2017, the Jumanji reboot Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was one of the bigger surprises to come out of Hollywood recently, especially as it blew up at the box office even while Star Wars: The Last Jedi dominating screen space. Whenever you can go toe-to-toe with a property of that size, you’ve tapped into something that people find very entertaining and satisfying.
Most instances of studios resurrecting old properties are safe, risk-averse cash grabs, but Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle had a really inspired spin on the old property that brought it into our gaming age. It also had the spirit of a classic 80s Amblin adventure. Now comes the highly anticipated sequel Jumanji: The Next Level, and its first trailer introduces another inspired concept that I doubt anyone saw coming.
For a franchise that could’ve easily justified a “more of the same” approach, this one still likes to take inspired turns. I won’t spoil what that is; just watch the trailer to find out.
Jumanji: The Next Level — with returning stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Rhys Darby, Alex Wolff, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner and director Jake Kasdan who are also joined by Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, and Awkifina — opens on December 13, 2019. That’s one week before the Skywalker saga finale Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and that box office combo could produce one of the most lucrative movie seasons of recent memory.
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