What We Know About the Jumanji Reboot

Jumanji Reboot Will Go On Without Robin Williams but Will Honor the Late Actor

Before the late Robin Williams passed in 2015, a Jumanji reboot was in the works at Sony. Now Dwayne Johnson confirms that the new film will be a re-imagining of the amazing story – a continuation of the Jumanji tale – not a reboot.

That’s relieving news for fans of the original Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce as unlikely team brought together to finish “a game for those who seek to find…a way to leave their world behind.”

With the nature of William’s death, and his unexpected passing, it seems it would be difficult to make a film so synonymous with the legendary actor, but Sony is doing just that.

Johnson does have experience filming sequels post traumatic cast deaths. He starred in Furious 7, which stopped production when star Paul Walker died in a car crash while allegedly street racing. Production resumed a few months later, and the cast – including Johnson – had to promote the film post Walker’s death.

Jumanji has a new release date of summer 2017. Johnson paid tribute to Robin Williams in a post on Instagram, sharing additional information about the film including the plot. Apparently the reboot will draw more from Chris Van Allsburg’s original children’s book than the 1995 hit film. Johnson also acknowledged that they will be paying tribute to Williams in some way in the new film.

Johnson was recently named the year’s highest earning actor, according to Forbes Celebrity 100. According to the report, The Rock has earned about $64.5 million in earnings in the 15 years since his debut in The Mummy Returns. He’s had major successes in recent years, with seven of his films grossing more than $100 million.

The new Jumanji will also star Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence), Karen Gillan (Guardian’s of the Galaxy), Nick Jonas (Night at the Museum) and Jack Black (School of Rock). Hart and Johnson recent starred together in the hit movie Central Intelligence.

The film is currently in production, and we don’t know too much more about the plot except for character names. By the costumes the cast is wearing in the film, and their character’s names, we guess they’re game archetypes instead of game players. Can’t wait for the trailer to learn more about this long awaited reboot.