Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner, based on a story by McKenna. Part of the Jumanji franchise, the film is a sequel to 1995's Jumanji, which was based on the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. It pays tribute to Robin Williams, the star of the first film, by mentioning his character's name. In addition, a replica of the used by Williams' character also appears as a clue for the Jumanji game's new players. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Bobby Cannavale. Set twenty-one years after Jumanji, it follows four teenagers who are transported into the video game world of Jumanji and play as their chosen characters. Joining another player, they must overcome the game's magical power to win and return home.

Principal photography began in Honolulu in September 2016 and ended in Atlanta in December. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 20 in RealD 3D and IMAX. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who called it a "pleasant surprise" and praised the cast. It has grossed $962million worldwide, the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the 40th-highest-grossing film of all time. A sequel is scheduled to be released in December 2019.

Plot
In 1996 in Brantford, New Hampshire, teenager Alex Vreeke receives the Jumanji board game which was found by his father on a beach after it was thrown over a bridge by Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle 27 years earlier. Alex sets the game aside. That night, it transforms into a video game cartridge which catches Alex's attention when he is awakened by the Jumanji drums and he is transported into the game.

Twenty years later, in 2016, four Brantford High School students serve detention: Spencer Gilpin, caught writing an essay for former friend Anthony "Fridge" Johnson (also in detention); Bethany Walker, who made a video call during an English-class quiz and Martha Kaply, who refused to participate in gym class. They are sent to the school basement to prepare magazines for recycling and to think about their future. Fridge discovers Alex's discarded video-game system when he explores the basement, and he and Spencer set up the game. Although it has five playable characters, the first one cannot be selected. Spencer and Fridge choose two characters, and the girls choose their own. When Spencer presses "Start", they are transported into the game.

They are in a jungle, in the forms of their game avatars. Spencer is tough, muscular explorer and archaeologist Smolder Bravestone; Fridge is diminutive zoologist Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, whom he chose after misreading "Mouse" as "Moose"; Bethany is chubby male cartographer: an intellectual Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon (whose nickname she mistook for a woman's), and Martha is beautiful commando and martial arts expert Ruby Roundhouse. They each have three lives; Spencer deduces that if they lose all three, they really die.

They learn the game's story from NPC Nigel: corrupt archeologist Russel Van Pelt stole the Jaguar's Eye (a magic jewel) from its shrine, cursing Jumanji. Nigel escaped Van Pelt with the jewel, and the players must return it to a jaguar statue and call "Jumanji" to lift the curse. Nigel warns them that Van Pelt will stop at nothing to retrieve the jewel, which gives him control of Jumanji's animals. They begin tackling the game's increasingly-difficult "levels", losing lives as they do so. The four are rescued by Alex (the missing fifth player, whose avatar is pilot Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough). Taking shelter in a jungle house built by Alan Parrish, Alex believes that he has been in the game for a few months and is distressed to learn that it is really twenty years. The newcomers vow to help him return home. They break into a transportation shed, commandeering a helicopter to fly to the jaguar statue and return the jewel, but Fridge drops the jewel into a herd of white rhinoceros. Spencer uses one of Fridge's lives, pushing him out of the helicopter as a distraction, and retrieves the jewel. Alex loses his last life when a mosquito bites him, but Bethany performs CPR and transfers one of her lives to him.

At the statue, the players are surrounded by a pack of jaguars and Van Pelt's forces. They outmaneuver their opposition while Spencer and Martha race to the statue. Van Pelt confronts Martha (trapped in a pit of mambas) and demands the jewel, but she sacrifices one of her lives to re-spawn and get it to Spencer. With the players on their last lives, they end the game with Van Pelt disintegrating into a bunch of rats and return to the real world; Nigel bids them farewell, but Alex does not appear with them. They find the formerly-dilapidated Vreeke home restored and decorated for a Christmas family gathering. An adult Alex arrives, returning to where he left off in 1996. Now married with children, he named his eldest daughter after Bethany out of gratitude for saving his life and introduces them to his infant son, Andy.

Spencer and Fridge reconcile, Bethany begins caring for others more than herself and plans a summer backpacking adventure, Martha and Spencer become romantically involved and the four are now friends after their experiences in the game. When they hear Jumanji's drumbeats, they bring the game behind the school and Fridge destroys it with a bowling ball (also found in detention) to prevent anyone from playing it again.

Cast

 * Dwayne Johnson as Smolder Bravestone, an Indiana Jones-like archaeologist and explorer who is Spencer's avatar; he is the leader of his team.
 * Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin, a nerdy gamer at Brantford High School. Panphobic; his experience as Smolder Bravestone helps him cope with his anxiety and develop assertiveness.
 * Jack Black as Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon, a cartographer, cryptographer, archaeologist, and paleontologist who is Bethany's avatar.
 * Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker, a pretty, popular, self-centered teenage girl at Brantford High School.
 * Kevin Hart as Franklin "Mouse" Finbar, a zoologist and weapons specialist who is Fridge's avatar.
 * Ser'Darius Blain as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, a Brantford High School football jock coasting on his athletic prowess who cares more about dating than studying.
 * Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse, a Lara Croft-like commando, martial artist, and dance fighter who is Martha's avatar.
 * Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply, a shy and cynical intellectual at Brantford High School who believes that physical education is needless and dislikes popular peers like Bethany and Fridge.
 * Nick Jonas as Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough, a young aircraft pilot in Jumanji who is Alex Vreeke's avatar.
 * Mason Guccione as Alex Vreeke, a teenage gamer who played (and was trapped inside) the Jumanji video game for 20 years. Colin Hanks plays the adult Alex when he appears 20 years later.

Game

 * Bobby Cannavale as Russel Van Pelt, an archeologist-turned-mercenary and an enemy of Smolder Bravestone. He tries to retrieve the Jaguar's Eye, whose power possesses him.
 * Rhys Darby as Nigel Billingsley, the main guide
 * William Tokarsky as a food vendor
 * Rohan Chand as a young guide at the bazaar

Reality

 * Marc Evan Jackson as Principal Bentley, who makes Spencer, Bethany, Fridge, and Martha clean up the basement as part of their detention
 * Carlease Burke as Miss Mathers, Spencer and Fridge's U.S. History teacher
 * Sean Buxton as Alex's father, who discovered the Jumanji game
 * Tim Matheson (uncredited) as Old Man Vreeke, the older Alex's father. His narration at the beginning of the film implies that seeing his son teleported into the game had traumatized him. After Alex's return to him year later alters history, he is a happy family man and grandfather, and close to his son and grandchildren.
 * Maribeth Monroe as Bethany's English teacher
 * Missi Pyle as Coach Webb, Martha's gym teacher
 * Kat Altman as Lucinda, Bethany's friend
 * Marin Hinkle as Spencer's mother
 * Tracey Bonner as Fridge's mother
 * Natasha Charles Parker as Bethany's mother
 * Michael Shacket as Fussfeld, a friend of Spencer at Brantford High School who is infatuated with Bethany.

Development
In July 2012, rumors circulated that a remake of Jumanji was in development. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad said: "We're going to try and reimagine Jumanji and update it for the present." On August 1, 2012, it was confirmed that Matthew Tolmach would produce the new version with William Teitler (who produced the original film).

In August 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the film was scheduled for release on December 25, 2016. Online reception to the news was negative, with some saying that the announcement came too soon after the August 2014 death of Robin Williams (who played Alan Parrish in the original film). The announcement was criticized by Bradley Pierce (who played Peter Shepherd in Jumanji) and by E! News, which called the remake "unnecessary and kind of insulting". On October 23, 2015, Scott Rosenberg was hired to rewrite the script for the film, whose production was a high priority for the studio. On January 14, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Jake Kasdan had been hired to direct the film from a script by Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner based on a draft by original writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.

On April 15, Variety reported that Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were in early talks to star in the film (although both actors had other projects). Later in the month, Johnson confirmed his casting on Instagram. In July, it was reported that Nick Jonas had joined the film's cast with Johnson, Hart, and Jack Black. The following month, Johnson said that the film would not be a reboot but a continuation of the 1995 film; Karen Gillan was announced as part of the cast. On September 20, Ser'Darius Blain was cast as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson and Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker. Two days later, Rhys Darby was cast as Nigel Billingsley, Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply, and Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin. In November 2016, Bobby Cannavale announced his casting in the film, and in December 2016, Tim Matheson joined the cast as Old Man Vreeke. Although James Newton Howard was originally signed to compose the film's score, he was replaced by Henry Jackman when the film's release date was postponed six months.

In March 2017, during CinemaCon, it was announced that the film's complete title was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Its plot involved teenagers cleaning out a school's basement who find a vintage video-game version of Jumanji and are sucked into the first film's jungle setting. Although fans debated whether the film was a sequel or a reboot, the second trailer (released on September 20, 2017) indicated that the sequel is set twenty-one years after the first.

Filming
Principal photography began on September 19, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, primarily at the Kualoa Ranch nature reserve. The film wrapped on December 8 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Release
In August 2015, Sony gave the film a release date of December 25, 2016. Since filming did not begin until September 2016, the release was pushed back to July 28 and then to December 20, 2017.

On November 29, 2017, it was announced that Amazon Prime members in the United States would have early access to tickets for a December 8 screening of the film at select Regal, National Amusements, ArcLight Cinemas and AMC theaters. The screenings sold out at 1,200 theaters and earned $1.9 million. The film was released on IMAX 2D on January 12, 2018.

Home media
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was released on Digital HD on March 6, 2018 and on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 20, although the film was still in theatres. The Blu-ray and digital versions include two additional featurettes: "Surviving the Jungle: Spectacular Stunts!" and "Book to Board Game to Big Screen & Beyond! Celebrating The Legacy of Jumanji."

Box office
As of June 3, 2018, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has grossed $404.5 million in the United States and Canada and $557.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $962 million. On April 10, 2018, the film passed Spider-Man ($403.7 million) to become Sony's highest-grossing film domestically. Deadline Hollywood calculated its net profit as $305.7 million when factoring all expenses and revenues, making it 2017's fourth-most-profitable release.

In the U.S. and Canada, the film was released on December 20, 2017 with The Greatest Showman and was projected to gross about $60 million from 3,765 theaters in its six-day opening weekend; the studio predicted a $45 million debut. It earned $7.2 million on its first day and $7.6 million on its second day. Over the three-day weekend, the film grossed $36.2 million (for a six-day total of $71.9 million), finishing second at the box office behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Its earnings increased to $50.1 million during its second weekend, again finishing in second place at the box office. The 38.4-percent weekend-to-weekend increase was the fourth-largest for a film playing in over 3,000 theaters; The Greatest Showman set the record for best hold the same weekend. The film passed Star Wars: The Last Jedi for the top spot the following weekend, declining 28.1 percent to $36 million, and finished first again the following week with $28.1 million (and a total of $35.2 million over the four-day MLK weekend). Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle remained atop the box office for its third weekend, earning $19.5 million.

It again topped the box office the following week with $20 million, despite the release of 12 Strong and Den of Thieves. The film continued to do well the following week, dropping 16 percent (to $16.4 million) and finishing second to Maze Runner: The Death Cure, before regaining the top spot the following weekend with $11.1 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 187 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle uses a charming cast and a humorous twist to offer an undemanding yet solidly entertaining update on its source material." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average, the film has a normalized score of 58 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 84% overall positive score.

Dave White of TheWrap praised the cast and called the film a pleasant surprise: "Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle is the Christmas tentpole release that aims to please and succeeds, a funny family entertainment product that subverts more expectations than it was obligated to contractually". David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a C grade, calling it unnecessary but mildly amusing: "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is further proof that even the stalest whiff of brand recognition has become preferable to originality. Only part of the blame for that belongs to the studios but after cannibalizing themselves for much of the last 20 years, Hollywood has clearly eaten their way down to the crumbs". For Variety, Owen Gleiberman wrote: "Excitement! Suspense! Childlike innocence! Ingeniously staged action set pieces! These are a few of the things you will not find, anywhere, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ... It's supposed to be a board game come to life but really, it's just a bored game."

Sequel
Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black and Nick Jonas discussed Jumanji 3 plot in interviews, including the possibility of the film's exploring the origins of the game. According to Karen Gillan, the alternate ending of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle would have left the door open for another installment. In February 2018 it was announced that Kasdan would direct the sequel, with Rosenberg and Pinkner again writing the script and Johnson, Hart, Black and Gillan reprising their roles. In April 2018, Sony set the film for a December 2019 release.