We now have official confirmation that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is onboard the Jumanji reboot, but there’s still a lot of blanks to fill in between now and the film’s July 2017 release date. The Great One still has his hands full with Baywatch and Rampage, but that hasn’t stopped him and his 7 Bucks Productions team from diving into Jumanji headfirst, with shooting scheduled to start in the fall. What remains to be seen is whether or not the 1995 original will serve as a jumping-off point for the new film. (Yes, the original Jumanji movie is now old enough to buy liquor. We are all older than the hills.)
There’s no word yet if the 1995 movie is being treated as canon, but The Rock is making one thing clear: He’s out to honor the memory of Robin Williams with this project. On his Instagram, he let his millions (and millions) of followers know that Williams’ lead role will be held in high regard.
An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams. The love and respect I have for this man is boundless. You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of “Alan Parrish” will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of JUMANJI in an earnest and cool way. I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud. I also think Robin is somewhere lookin’ down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn’t even get my words out. Idiot. He literally calmed me down w/ that smile and laugh. But that’s for another fun story down the road.
Well, now I just want to hear that whole story. Hopefully we’ll get the details at some point, but for right now, it’s great to hear that Williams still holds such a cherished spot in the entertainment world. Who knows, maybe this reboot will let us know what Parrish was doing in the jungle until the dice read 5 or 8. Oh, and full disclosure: I didn’t realize that it was the same actor playing Parrish’s father and Van Pelt until about a month ago. I’m not alone on that one, right?
