First ‘Jumanji: Open World’ trailer flips the franchise
Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan are trading the jungle for the real world in the first trailer for Jumanji: Open World.
Sony will release director Jake Kasdan’s film in theatres on December 25, closing out the trilogy with a story that flips the franchise’s premise: rather than teenagers getting sucked into a video game, the game’s characters break out of their console and wreak havoc on the real world.
The trailer shows Johnson, Black, Hart and Gillan playing avatar-like versions of themselves navigating life outside the game.
As one character played by Alex Wolff explains, “We have a problem. They’re video game characters, but they’re stuck in demo mode.”
The film’s supporting cast includes Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Rhys Darby and Danny DeVito.
Kasdan, who also directed 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its 2019 sequel The Next Level, co-wrote Open World‘s script with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, and produces alongside Johnson, Matt Tolmach, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia.
The franchise has been a major earner for Sony since its 2017 relaunch, a modern take on Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 children’s book, which had previously been adapted into the 1995 Robin Williams film.
Welcome to the Jungle passed $950 million globally, while The Next Level topped $801 million.
Johnson, Hart and Black first unveiled footage from Open World and revealed its title at CinemaCon earlier this year, where Black told the crowd it was his favourite entry in the franchise to work on so far.
