Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American action adventure comedy film[3][6] directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Kasdan, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, from a story by McKenna. A standalone sequel to Jumanji (1995), the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale. The plot follows four teenagers who are transported into the video game world of Jumanji, and, playing as the characters they chose, must beat the game in order to return to the real world. The film is also a tribute to Robin Williams, star of the original film, who died in 2014.[7]
Principal photography began in Hawaii in September 2016. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017 and was released in the United States in 3D on December 20, 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who called it a "pleasant surprise" and praised the cast, and has grossed $100 million worldwide.[8]
Principal photography began in Hawaii in September 2016. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017 and was released in the United States in 3D on December 20, 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who called it a "pleasant surprise" and praised the cast, and has grossed $100 million worldwide.[8]
Plot
In 1996, teenager Alex Vreeke receives the Jumanji board game, found by his father on a beach. When Alex dismisses it, the game transforms into a video game cartridge. When he plays it, he is sucked into the game.
Twenty years later, four American teenagers are placed in detention together: Spencer Gilpin, who is writing essays for his former friend, Anthony "Fridge" Johnson (who is also in detention), self-absorbed Bethany Walker, and the shy Martha Kaply. Assigned to clear out the school's basement, the four find Jumanji, now a five-player action-adventure console game. With one of the playable characters inaccessible, the teenagers select the others, and are sucked into the game.
They find themselves in a jungle, each now in the forms of their game avatars. Spencer is an explorer named Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Fridge is a short zoologist named Franklin "Mouse" Finbar (whom he had selected upon misreading the name as "Moose"), Martha is a commando named Ruby Roundhouse, and Bethany is an overweight, male cartographer named Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon. They soon realize that they are in a video game, and each have three lives. If they lose all three, they will actually die. Each of their avatars also comes with special skills and weaknesses.
They learn from Nigel, an NPC, that the big-game hunter, Van Pelt, has obtained a jewel, the "Jaguar's Eye", allowing him to manipulate Jumanji's animals. To escape the game, the players must return it to an enormous jaguar statue and call out "Jumanji". Along the way, the group begins to lose lives through various means. The group start working together to obtain a clue from a snake but are captured by Van Pelt's men. They are rescued by Alex, the fifth player, whose avatar is a pilot named Seaplane McDonough. Recuperating in a treehouse built by Alan Parrish, Alex learns that he has been in the game for twenty years. They commandeer a helicopter and fly for the jaguar statue to return the jewel.
Arriving at the statue, the players find themselves facing Van Pelt's forces and jaguar guards. Using their resources and teamwork, the players distract the villains while Spencer returns the jewel to the statue and cries out "Jumanji!" The game ends, disintegrating Van Pelt, and the four teenagers are returned to the real world, but discover that Alex did not come with them. On their way home, they reveal that the Vreeke household – once abandoned with Alex's disappearance – has been restored. An adult Alex appears, now with his own family. He reveals he emerged in 1996, and history was changed.
Spencer and Fridge reconcile, Bethany makes plans to go backpacking from her experiences in Jumanji, and Martha starts dating Spencer. The four hear Jumanji's drumbeats, but they take the game behind the school, and seemingly destroy it with the bowling ball they found in detention.
Release
In August 2015, Sony set the film a release date for December 25, 2016.[32] It was then pushed back a year from its original release date of December 25, 2016 to July 28, 2017 and then pushed back from July 28, 2017 to December 20, 2017.[2]On November 29, 2017, it was announced Amazon Prime members in the United States would have early access to movie tickets for a single December 8, 2017 screening of the film at select Regal, National Amusements, ArcLight Cinemas and AMC theaters.[33] The screenings ended up selling out at 1,200 theaters and making $1.9 million.[34]
