Twenty-two years after the first Jumanji graced movie screens, Sony Pictures released the first full trailer for its sequel, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on Thursday.
The sequel swaps out the original’s magical (or cursed) board game in favor of an old-school video game console that sucks its players right in. The trailer opens on four high schoolers who discover the video game, only to be transported to the jungle when they try to play it; they’re also transformed into their in-game avatars, in the forms of actors Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan.
The original Joe Johnston-directed Jumanji became a cult hit after its release in 1995 due in part to Robin Williams’ earnest performance as Alan Parrish, a boy who becomes trapped inside the game for 20 years.
Sony’s synopsis of the film hints that there will be a connection to Parrish in the sequel: “To beat the game and return to the real world, they’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves – or they’ll be stuck in the game forever.”
Jake Kasdan (Bad Teacher, Sex Tape) directs the sequel off of a screenplay by Scott Rosenberg (Venom, Gone in Sixty Seconds). Missi Pyle, Rhys Darby, Bobby Cannavale, Tim Matheson, Alex Wolff and Nick Jonas round out the cast.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is in theaters December 20.
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