The Rock is one of the most busy men on the planet right now. He’s always jet-setting from movie set to television studios and back again. He’s almost always promoting a new project and has many highly anticipated productions in the works. One of the big deals he has underway is the current reboot of Jumanji. The People’s Champ was at Sony’s CinemaCon’s panel on Monday night to talk all about it and share a rare first look of the upcoming major motion picture.
First off, the upcoming movie has a new name: “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle.” The Guns N’ Roses inspired title just might spell the beginning of a much bigger franchise, but nothing was spoken in that regard just yet.
One thing that was revealed were more details on the plot. Apparently this new incarnation of Jumanji revolves around a video game. Because children apparently don’t know what a board game is anymore.
The plot focuses around four-highschoolers who are in detention and stumble across the Jumanji game after their teacher orders them to clean out the basement of the school. Once the kids start playing the game, they are sucked into the world of Jumanji for real.
The kicker is the kids are transported into the body of the character they pick in the game. Therefore a teenage girl inhabits the body of Jack Black and a nerd is inside The Rock. For real, that is the plot and it sounds highly entertaining.
The Hollywood Reporter says during the panel, The Rock discussed speaking with Robin Williams about the film. Rock told Robin Williams this movie would be a big and global homage to the 1995 film.
The new Jumanji film also stars Nick Jonas, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart. Cast members on the panel said filming took place in Hawaii and although it might sound like a great time, there were actually pretty “hellish” conditions.
Jumanji opens on December 22nd for a wide release and is being distributed by Columbia Pictures.
