And the #JUMANJI magic begins. Excellent meeting with our director Jake Kasdan, producer Matt Tolmach, and our @SevenBucksProd team to work on our new re-imagining of this amazing story. I felt like in order to craft something cool we should begin where it all started. Award winning writer Chris Van Allsburg's source material of JUMANJI. Chris also wrote THE POLAR EXPRESS (later adapted by Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks) and has a very special & magical way of storytelling. I'm feelin' good and confident stepping into these shoes as a producer as well as actor to bring you something great that you and your entire fam can enjoy. An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams. The love and respect I have for this man is boundless. You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of "Alan Parrish" will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of JUMANJI in an earnest and cool way. I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud. I also think Robin is somewhere lookin' down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn't even get my words out. Idiot. He literally calmed me down w/ that smile and laugh. But that's for another fun story down the road. We got a great team assembled already over at our home base of SONY and now we build from here. Here's another fun part... in the original movie there were three big roles. In our new story there's now FIVE. Been so damn cool to see all my actor buddies push their projects aside so hopefully they can come play in our world. Should have cool casting announcements this week. Will keep you posted. #TheMagicBegins #JustPressStart #JUMANJI
Jack Black will star alongside Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in Jumanji, TheWrap has learned.
Jake Kasdan is directing the adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 book, which is produced by Matt Tolmach, William Teitler, Ted Field and Mike Weber. Van Allsburg will be an executive producer.
The reboot was written by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, based on a draft by the original writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
Production will start in August in Hawaii, as Sony is slated to release “Jumanji” on July 28, 2017.
Robin Williams starred in the original “Jumanji” along with Kirsten Dunst, David Alan Grier, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde and Bebe Neuwirth.
Black recently starred in “Goosebumps“, one of the several successful family comedies on his resume along with “School of Rock” and the “Kung Fu Panda” series.
Nick Jonas is in talks to join Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black in the Jake Kasdan-directed reimagining of Jumanji that Sony Pictures has set for a July 28, 2017 release. Matt Tolmach is producing. While Jonas is best known for his singing voice as a solo artist who started as one of the Jonas Brothers, he showed real chops in the frat hazing drama Goat, which premiered at Sundance in January and which Paramount releases September 23. He also stars in the MMA series Kingdom. Busy with music commitments, closing Jonas’ deal is predicated on scheduling. But a studio franchise seems a smart next step in a career worth watching.
Kasdan will direct a script by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, latter of whom last worked for the studio on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Their script is based on draft by original writers, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and the whole thing is based on the Caldecott Medal-winning adventure book by Chris Van Allsburg. William Teitler is also producing and the exec producers are Kasdan, Van Allsburg, Johnson, David Householter, Ted Field, Mike Weber and Dany Garcia. Shooting starts next month in Honolulu.
The original Jumanji starred Robin Williams and was released in 1995. The film grossed more than $260 million globally. The second installment, Zathura, flopped, but Sony has been trying for a while for a foothold to relaunch the fantastical world depicted in Van Allsburg’s book. That effort goes back to when Tolmach was production president at the studio.
Not totally against a remake of Jumanji but really hope it doesn't turn out ot be a money grab CGI fest. Dwayne Johnson is fine but I could do with less Kevin Hart.
Jumanji 2, or whatever it’s going to be called since it’s somehow a sequel instead of a reboot, already has a pretty charming cast. Between Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, the film can boast a nice stack of likable actors. Also Nick Jonas will be in it.
Now, according to Deadline, the film will add one more likable person to its cast in the form of Karen Gillan, who you probably know from Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Who depending on how nerdy you are. Actually, I bet the overlap on that is pretty sizable.
Deadline claims Gillan will play a character called Martha (you guys are welcome to go crazy with your Batman V Superman jokes in the comments!) and that the role is a lead. That’s currently all we know. There is no Martha from the first Jumanji, so the mystery of how this is actually a sequel remains unsolved.
Location: You'll find me in the region of the summer stars✶*¨*✫
I heard about this but thought it was a remake (which I wasn't excited about) Glad to know it's a sequel. I like Dwayne and Kevin Hart, maybe it'll be decent.
