Jumanji 4

The cinematography world may be brought to a standstill these months because of the coronavirus pandemic, but plans are still going on. The fourth installment of the Jumanji franchise is on the table, and at least two important names involved in the 2017 and 2019 movies have confirmed that.

Dwayne Johnson, who plays Dr Xander “Smolder” Bravestone, the avatar of Eddie, revealed in December 2019 that a new character might appear in the potential sequel. And while we don’t know the plot yet, we may have a clue if we recall how the 2019 movie ended. No spoilers here, but that ending is surely a setup for a sequel. And if you remember the original 1995 movie which starred Robin Williams and young Kirsten Dunst, you might have a clue on this.

The director and producer of the previous two movies, Jake Kasdan, also confirmed in March 2020 that there are early developments for another movie.

In April, Kasdan said that the story is already in development and the work will start after the lockdown is lifted. And we already know that the core cast from the recent movies will be in place. That means Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Nick Jonas and Alex Wolff would be back in Jumanji 4. The filled with stars cast would still be led by Dwayne Johnson, and we might as well get to see Danny DeVito and Danny Glover again.

“We’re just starting to talk about all of that, and the truth is we’ve barely started. We were just getting into the conversation before this global calamity and we will re-engage it as soon as everybody is settled. We all love working together and we have loved making these. (…). So, I think there will be a third one and it’s just the earliest days of trying to figure out what that would be”, Kasdan was quoted by the Collider.

It is a long way ahead until a release date, especially with all the coronavirus situation interaction with production worldwide, but given that the previous two movies were released in December, two years apart, we may guess that he next one may come out in December 2021. And with a development already on the way, one year and a half would just be the right time to launch it.

The $2 billion box-office story

The franchise grossed substantially from the previous three movies – Jumanji (1995), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). The story of the magical board game (and later video game) with animals and other jungle elements that come to life had a success of over $2 billion worldwide. The movies were box-office hits of their respective years. And that is the success when it comes just to cinematography.

The franchise arises from the American author Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrated book back in 1981. It was also developed in a TV series (1996-1999) and video games, mobile games and a virtual reality experience. The plot is centered around a few children who play the game and either are transported in the game or bring the game in the real world together with all its jungle animals and dangers.

The editorial unit