Dwayne Johnson Has A Plan For The Future Of Jumanji
Jumanji is one of Dwayne Johnson's biggest franchises, and a new rumor suggests there are no plans to stop the series any time soon.
This article is more than 2 years old
Despite being in multiple Fast and Furious films, Moana, and plenty of his own action films, the highest-grossing Dwayne Johnson film domestically is 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, with $404 million in North America alone. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle made $962 million worldwide, while 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level made $800 million. It’s no wonder that a new rumor suggests Johnson wants the Jumanji franchise to go for a long time.
This rumor comes from Daniel Richtman’s Patreon, where he says that Dwayne Johnson wants the Jumanji series to keep going and going. That shouldn’t be a surprise, since Jumanji is Johnson’s biggest franchise he headlines. Considering Johnson became a producer on the series with The Next Level, of course, he wants this series to continue for as long as it can, since it’s basically like printing money at this point.
There is already a third Jumanji film in development, with director and co-writer Jake Kasdan saying the story is being developed now, and he also said the cast from the first two is expected to return for a third. There have been some hints, however, as to where this story could theoretically go. Jumanji: The Next Level concluded with creatures from the video game apparently coming into the real world, much like the original 1995 film Jumanji. Dwayne Johnson also revealed that Rory McCann, who played Jurgen the Brutal in The Next Level is actually an avatar and not an NPC. It looks as though a third film would delve into who is playing Jurgen the Brutal.
While it shouldn’t be a surprise that Dwayne Johnson would want Jumanji to keep going, the bigger question might be how many franchises can Johnson take on at once? After a rivalry with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson received his own Fast & Furious spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw, and a sequel is supposedly in development for that as well. Dwayne Johnson is also starring in Disney’s latest film based on one of their theme park rides, with the July 30, 2021 release of Jungle Cruise. It’s clear Disney has big plans for Jungle Cruise, probably hoping this film will fill the void left behind by the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Even though it doesn’t have a specific release date yet, Netflix is also putting out Red Notice, which puts Dwayne Johnson together with Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. The film is coming in 2021, although it’s not clear when in the year we can expect this team up. Finally, Dwayne Johnson has been talking for years about playing Black Adam in the DC Universe, but it’s also unclear when that one could come out. The film was taken off DC’s slate due to the COVID pandemic, but with Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra also planning to direct Black Adam, the success of Jungle Cruise and a theoretical sequel could push Black Adam even further.
Naturally, Dwayne Johnson wants to make as many Jumanji films as he can. The franchise has been a huge success so far, and it even further cements him as an action star, and a maker of entertainment for everyone. While we know a third Jumanji is on the way, who knows how long this franchise will go?
