Disney's Jungle Cruise movie is coming soon and here's everything we know about it, including its release date, cast, and more. Jungle Cruise has been years in the making. Back in 2011, it was believed Toy Story super duo Tim Allen and Tom Hanks would star before exiting the project. Somewhere along the way, the Allen-Hanks version of Jungle Cruise was scrapped and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's casting ushered in the need for a new script, cast, and everything in between.
What has always remained the same for Disney's Jungle Cruise movie is the intention to create another massive adventure film similar to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which is based on another Disney Parks ride. So basing a movie on the Disney Jungle Cruise ride, which has been in operation since the 1950s, makes perfect sense from a business perspective. A jungle setting offers a variety of adventuring possibilities - all it takes is the right cast, director, and story to help bring it to life.
Here's everything we know about Disney's Jungle Cruise movie so far, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, among others, and releases in summer 2021. This comes after Coronavirus delayed the film an entire year from summer 2020.
Jungle Cruise Release Date
Jungle Cruise releases on July 30, 2021, both in theaters and on Disney+ Premiere Access. Settling on an exact release date has been tricky for the film, as it had jumped around Disney's schedule several times before being slated for a summer 2021 release, even prior to the Coronavirus pandemic. Previously, Jungle Cruise had been scheduled for release on October 11, 2019, than was pushed back to July 24, 2020. The July 30 date was settled on after it became clear that theaters wouldn't be back to business as usual during summer 2020.
Jungle Cruise's release date delay made sense though, even if theaters had opened back up sooner than they ultimately did, as the film seems like a natural summer blockbuster. Plus, releasing it at an earlier time, when consumers were more wary of going to theaters, would've been a disservice to its potential. A big adventure set in the jungle with two notable box office draws - Johnson and Blunt - and based on a popular Disney ride feels tailor-made for the summer movie-going season. Summer has always been good to Johnson as well, who has seen past films - Skyscraper, Baywatch, Central Intelligence - have successful summer openings.
Jungle Cruise Cast
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt lead the Jungle Cruise cast, but they aren't the only big names in the film. In addition to Johnson and Blunt, the Jungle Cruise cast includes Jack Whitehall, Paul Giamatti, Edgar Ramirez, and Jesse Plemons. Johnson plays Frank Wolff, a cynical but ultimately heroic riverboat captain. Blunt plays Lily Houghton, an adventurous scientist that enlists Frank to ferry her into the jungle, with Whitehall starring as her brother, McGregor Houghton.
Back in August 2018, it was revealed Whitehall's character would be openly gay in the film but the news received backlash when his character was described as "hugely effete, very camp." Concerns were voiced from the public, as discontent over a straight man playing a stereotyped depiction of gayness, rather than an honest one, was greenlit by a studio that has historically avoided openly LGBTQ characters. As for the rest of the cast, Giamatti plays Nilo Nemolato, the rough around the edges harbormaster at the port where Frank docks his boat. Jungle Cruise will have two villains: its main antagonist is Jesse Plemons' Prince Joachim, a German aristocrat who finances an expedition looking for the same fabled item as Lily, while the secondary villain is Edgar Ramirez's Aguirre, a mercenary who leads Joachim's operation.
Jungle Cruise Director
Jaume Collet-Serra directs Jungle Cruise. This is Collet-Serra's first time working on a Disney film as well as his first time working with Johnson (they'll re-team for DC's Black Adam) and Blunt. Collet-Serra's specialty as a director has been in delivering tense, action-packed feature-length films to the masses. Since his 2005 directorial debut, a remake of the horror classic House of Wax, Collet-Serra has gone on to direct Orphan, Run All Night, Non-Stop, The Shallows, and The Commuter. If there is one director working today who understands how to blend drama and action together into something as fantastic as it is rooted in reality, it's Collet-Serra, which should signal to prospective audiences Jungle Cruise is going to be a thrill-ride.
Jungle Cruise Story Details
Jungle Cruise has been likened to a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and an Indiana Jones movie at various points, and it's not hard to see why. Jungle Cruise takes place in the early 20th century. The story follows riverboat captain Frank Wolff (Johnson), as he takes Lily and McGregor Houghton (Blunt and Whitehall) through the jungle to the location where it's believed the Tree of Life, which possesses incredible healing properties, still stands.
Frank, Lily, and McGregor won't be the only ones in pursuit of the Tree of Life, which will lead their small team on a series of twists and turns to make their way to the fabled destination, as they'll also be competing with the members of a rival expedition headed by Ramirez and Plemons' characters. Of course, based on the marketing, Frank and Lily will likely spend quite a bit of the movie trying to work together despite their opposite personalities, a common trope for this type of adventure story. Although it can be assumed that they'll bond over the course of their fight for survival, and maybe even fall for each other.
Jungle Cruise Trailers & Poster
On October 11, 2019, the first full trailer and official poster for Jungle Cruise were released, promising a good time to anyone looking for some action and adventure, and possibly even some romance, judging by the interplay between Johnson and Blunt's characters. In March 2020, a second trailer arrived, with the third and final trailer - oddly called trailer 2 by Disney - being released in May 2021. All the trailers can be seen above, along with the latest official poster, and it's not hard to get both Indiana Jones and The Mummy franchise vibes off Jungle Cruise's footage so far, as well as of course Pirates of the Caribbean. Then again, if one's going to borrow, it's best to borrow from movies most people loved.
