Dwayne Johnson brought something big to close out Sony’s CinemaCon panel Monday night: the first look at Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
Here’s a breakdown of the footage to the newly retitled film:
The footage begins with four high schoolers in detention. Their teacher orders them to clean out the basement of the school, and they find an old video game console, which features the game Jumanji. You pick a character, and as the teens learn you are that person in the game … which transports you to a jungle.
One rather nerdy boy is surprised (and rather pleased) to see he’s got the muscles of The Rock. The popular girl in school is horrified to learn she’s got the body of Jack Black.
So yep, part of the fun of this movie is Black is playing a teenage girl and the Rock is playing a nerd. As for star Karen Gillan’s controversial skimpy costume, as The Rock promised months ago, yes, there’s a reason for it.
Earlier during the panel, Johnson spoke of meeting Robin Williams, who starred in the original 1995 hit, backstage at CinemaCon years ago, and said the new film would be a “big” and “global” homage to the first Jumanji.
Stars Nick Jonas, Gillan and Black also were on hand, with Black singing an comical, impromptu theme song for the movie. He also said that shooting in Hawaii may sound nice, but it’s actually kind of “hellish” and took a shot at Leonardo DiCaprio for braving harsh conditions for The Revenant.
“You try to make a movie in Hawaii!” Black said, with The Rock noting, “That’s just one bear. We call bullshit on that.”
Kevin Hart (Moose Finbar) appeared via a video message, with the team poking fun at their missing co-star.
Jumanji is from director Jake Kasdan and opens Dec. 22.
Related Stories
More from The Hollywood Reporter
-
SXSW 2023
‘This Closeness’ Review: A Couple and Their Airbnb Host Get Acquainted in an Astute Dramedy of Awkwardness
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
Heat Vision
‘Sharper’ Director Benjamin Caron Talks His Twisty Feature Debut and Making ‘Andor’ Stormtroopers Competent
![]()
-
SXSW 2023
‘Parachute’ Review: Brittany Snow’s Directing Debut Tackles Addiction, Eating Disorders and Anxiety With an Impressively Light Touch
![]()
-
![]()
