Jumanji Stars Share Exciting News About the Upcoming Movie Title and Trailer at CinemaCon
The upcoming installment in the Jumanji franchise has officially been titled Jumanji: Open World.
The announcement was made on Monday night by stars Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Jack Black at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where they unveiled the film’s first trailer.
The trailer, showcased exclusively to those in attendance, begins with a computer repairman (Lamorne Morris) entering the home of Janice (Marin Hinkle), the mother of the teen protagonist, Spencer (Alex Wolff). It then cuts to ominous clouds above a house, followed by a scene of ostriches running through the streets of the real world.
Later, viewers reconnect with Spencer and his friends at a restaurant, where they encounter Spencer’s grandfather (Danny DeVito). He directs them to a booth housing Dwayne Johnson’s avatar, Dr. Bravestone, who curiously speaks with a Spanish accent.
The trailer reveals that the Jumanji game has made its way into the real world, manifesting the avatars of Hart, Black, and Karen Gillan in “demo mode.”
“I’m beginning to suspect,” Black’s avatar remarks, “that we’re not in Jumanji.”
This unexpected turn leads the teen heroes back into the game world, placing the fate of both Jumanji and their own world in their hands.
Jumanji: Open World marks the third film in Sony’s reimagined series, which focuses on teens being transported into a video game. The first two films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), also starred Johnson, Hart, Black, and Gillan as players in the game, with Wolff, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Ser’Darius Blain portraying their real-world counterparts.
The franchise is based on the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, following the original 1995 film directed by Joe Johnston, which starred Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, and Bonnie Hunt, and depicted a supernatural board game unleashing jungle-based threats into reality. Welcome to the Jungle grossed over $962 million worldwide, while The Next Level earned more than $801 million globally.
Johnson shared that the new film includes a tribute to Williams, saying, “one half of the original dice from the original Jumanji,” adding, “This one’s for you.”
During the event, the actors engaged in playful banter, with Hart humorously suggesting that Johnson is “a mess” and “drunk as sh*t.”
Black labeled this film as his “favorite so far,” while Hart jokingly remarked, “I didn’t have a good time. This was not a good time for me; it was f*cking work, showing up every day seeing [Johnson’s] stupid f*cking face.”
Black teased that the upcoming film is “wild,” stating that it “pulls out all the stops.”
Hart also noted that in this installment, “the game rules” of Jumanji “don’t apply,” with the four main characters portraying three separate versions of their avatars.
Jake Kasdan returns to direct Jumanji: Open World, with a script co-written by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. The film is produced by Matt Tolmach, Kasdan, Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, alongside executive producers Barry Waldman, Melvin Mar, William Teitler, Ted Field, Mike Weber, and Van Allsburg.
Set for release on Christmas Day via Columbia Pictures, the cast of the threequel also includes Rhys Darby and Nick Jonas.
