Boxoffice Pro - December 2019

Entering the Next Level
JAKE KASDAN SHAKES THINGS UP
FOR SEQUEL TO JUMANJI BLOCKBUSTER
by Kevin Lally
NICK JONAS, JACK BLACK, KAREN GILLAN, DWAYNE JOHNSON, AWKWAFINA, AND KEVIN HART
>> No one was more surprised than director
Jake Kasdan when his 2017 sequel to the 1995
adventure-fantasy-comedy Jumanji became a
$964 million worldwide smash and the second-highest-performing
Sony domestic release
ever. The perfect four-quadrant movie, appealing
to men and women, children and adults, Jumanji:
Welcome to the Jungle updated the (supernatural)
board game premise to the video game era.
And what made it especially irresistible was the
inspired casting of the avatars the game’s four
teenage players become once they get sucked into
its fantasy realm: Nerdy Spencer transformed into
muscle god Dwayne Johnson; hulking jock Fridge
turned into diminutive Kevin Hart; emo outcast
Martha became the formidable Karen Gillan; and
mean girl Bethany entered the chubby body of
Jack Black.
Kasdan and co-writers Scott Rosenberg (Con
Air, Venom) and Jeff Pinkner (“Fringe,” Venom)
alter the mix for the eagerly awaited sequel,
Jumanji: The Next Level, opening on December
13. This time around, Spencer’s grandfather,
played by Danny DeVito, gets transported into
the body of Johnson, while his elderly friend Milo
(Danny Glover) enters Hart’s avatar. To make
matters more complicated, Fridge is now the Jack
Black avatar. Meanwhile, Spencer and Bethany
are missing in action. The adventure also expands
beyond the jungle, encompassing deserts and
snow-capped mountains.
Welcome to the Jungle took Kasdan’s career to an
entirely new plateau. Previously, he had directed a
series of relatively low-budget comedies including
Orange County, The TV Set, Walk Hard: The Dewey
Cox Story, Bad Teacher, and Sex Tape. He’s also a
successful TV producer, with credits including
“New Girl,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Speechless,”
and new series “Bless This Mess.” The action-driven
Jumanji series brings him closer to the oeuvre of
his celebrated father, Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer
of Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back,
and Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens, as
well as writer-director of such acclaimed ensemble
dramas as The Big Chill, The Accidental Tourist, and
Grand Canyon.
In this phone interview, Jake Kasdan talks about
the challenges of revisiting the world of Jumanji.
36 DECEMBER 2019