The game is back again, but there is seemingly noone out of the game this time. Sony Pictures has revealed the opening trailer of Jumanji: Open World, which once again has Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan reuniting and is promoted to be the concluding finale of the modern Jumanji trilogy. The new film looks set to take the franchise in an entirely different direction. The previous two instalments, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level, saw the characters sucked from the real world into a deadly video game environment.
Jumanji: Open World takes this concept and turns it on its head. This time, the game finds its way into the real world, and with it, comes all the chaos and strange characters that should inhabit this space, now unleashed from their environment. The preview trailer gives an idea of how this world might look: for existing fans, the real reason to be excited for was the appearance of the stars we have come to love in the lead roles.
Dwayne Johnson is reprising his role as the fearless Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Jack Black is reprising his role as the hilarious Professor Shelly Oberon. Kevin Hart is reprising his role as Franklin Mouse Finbar, and Karen Gillan is reprising her role as the confident and strong Ruby Roundhouse.
This on-screen chemistry is one of the main reasons why the last two movies became major worldwide blockbusters and the trailer indicates that this final adventure is really taking that stellar crew to the forefront again. But Jumanji: Open World is not just regurgitating what it did the last time, though. The second biggest twist in the film is that this time the characters’ game members are alive in the real world, and from leaked details with the trailer, the characters are stuck in “demo mode”; a new problem in the franchise, as the characters must work out how the rules of Jumanji operate in the real world.
The finish appears to be a perfect combination of the franchise’s previous action-comedy hybrid with a slightly heavier dose of impending real world damage. This idea also makes the series feel more in touch with the spirit of the 1995 film Jumanji. In that film the magical board game released jungle monstrosities into the real world. The reboots turned the idea into a video game and transported players inside Jumanji.
Open World merges these ideas by once again letting Jumanji come to us. Reportedly, the trailer includes animals and monsters emerging in everyday settings, then forcing the traditional world to become the level of a deadly game. More recognizable faces besides the four at the heart of the action are coming back.
These names include Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner and Ser’Darius Blain, who played the central cast of younger friends in the resuscitated Jumanji films. Rhys Darby, who generally appeared as a comic element is also making a comeback, joined by Nick Jonas and veteran actor Danny De Vito. Leading the crowd is newcomer Awkwafina who was introduced in Jumanji: The Next Level. Selena. Working behind the camera is Jake Kasdan who returns to sit in the directors chair after Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level. He is also co-writer of the film with Jeff Pinkner.
