Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black are all leaving levels.
Sony Pictures released the first look at “Jumanji: Open World,” the latest entry in the long-running action-comedy franchise, at CinemaCon on Monday as part of its presentation to theater owners.
Once again, our heroes discover that the boundaries between a fantasy game and the real world have blurred. This time the three lead actors will play three different characters. For example, Johnson’s Dr. Bravestone is Spanish (he exudes charisma like the guy from the Dos Equis commercials), while Hart and Black’s characters are “stuck in demo mode” and are still working out some glitches. Hopefully, they’ll adapt quickly, as the trailer shared by Sony included plenty of scenes of wild animals going on a rampage in a rural New England town.
“Jumanji” is one of Sony’s most successful series, but it’s been seven years since 2019’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” debuted and almost a decade since 2017’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” These films were inspired by the 1995 Robin Williams hit “Jumanji”, which Hart, Johnson and Black said the new film would celebrate with Easter eggs. This film includes the original dice previously used in “Jumanji.”
“Robin, this is for you,” Johnson said, pointing skyward toward Williams, who died in 2014.
Jake Kasdan, who directed the previous “Jumanji” films, is back behind the camera again. Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, and Danny DeVito reprise their roles from the previous films. The latest “Jumanji” will open on December 25, 2026.
Johnson has teased that the franchise, or at least the part in which he plays the lead role, will end with this third film. If it reaches box office heights higher than its predecessors, it seems likely Sony will find other ways to keep “Jumanji” alive.
It can’t be a hard sell for actors. Most of the cast members on stage said they loved making the latest “Jumanji,” with Black calling it his favorite filmmaking experience.
Hart joked, “It wasn’t a good time for me.” “That was great work!”
