When one considers, perhaps frustratingly, the ever growing docket of remakes and reboots currently in production, it becomes customary to expect little and assume the worst. Sometimes emotions come into play, especially when a film is announced after only a couple years after the tragic death of the source material’s star. This gloomy, glass-half-full attitude came to many a mind when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced his inclusion in a forthcoming Jumanji film, the original of which starred the late Robin Williams.
Reacting to surges of understandable backlash, Mr. Johnson took to Instagram to ensure American audiences that no childhoods would be compromised; he was, in fact, making a sequel to the 1995 fantasy film, not a remake. And on Monday, he doubled down.
Expressing appreciation for the “positive chatter” in response to his initial clarification, The Rock again took to social media to elaborate on his plans, as both star and producer, to “honor the legend of ‘Alan Parrish,'” Jumanji‘s protagonist and Williams’ role in the first film. Johnson posted a picture of himself reading the Jumanji children’s book, followed by a lengthy caption that communicated both his reverence for the original as well as his dedication to “introduce a whole new generation to the fun and crazy JUMANJI universe that so many of us loved and grew up on.” He also reiterated that the project is not a “remake or reboot” but rather “a continuation” that picks up approximately 20 years after the original film’s end.
“Shooting begins in 4 weeks,” he adds, not ominously in the least.
