Jumanji 3 Director Is Aiming For An Early 2019 Filming Start

Jumanji 3 director Jake Kasdan says they are aiming to start filming sometime in early 2019. Kasdan directed last year's breakout hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a sequel to Joe Johnston's 1995 Jumanji film, which earned rave reviews and had an overwhelmingly successful run at the domestic and worldwide box office. That's why Sony Pictures is adamant about getting another installment out in front of audiences next year.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle focused on a group of teenagers who become trapped in a video game (the modern version of the Jumanji board game from the original story), and in order to return home, they had to find a way out without losing all their lives. The 2017 sequel starred Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart as the avatars of the four main characters who found the game while serving detention. It ended up grossing $961 million worldwide, thus making it the second highest-grossing movie to-date for the studio. And now, they are hoping to capture some of that magic again with Jumanji 3.

In an interview with Collider, Jake Kasdan revealed that they are still writing the script and they hope to start filming sometime early next year. He said: “The idea is to make the movie in the beginning of the year if we can get it all worked out.” In addition to figuring out the filming locations, the filmmakers are currently trying to crack the code on what would make the sequel special. “Part of the challenge of figuring out how [the emotional center of the film] continues is to keep that alive in ways that feel earned...like a true kind of continuation in this story,” Kasdan added.

In addition to Kasdan returning to direct, Jumanji 2 screenwriters Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner are also coming back to pen the sequel's screenplay - and they have their work cut out for them. Writing Welcome to the Jungle was arguably easier for them than it is writing for Jumanji 3, since they were able to essentially start from scratch and create entirely new characters. This way, they not only have to bring those characters back but also try to top their success with the last movie.

Plus, it's unclear how the sequel will work. At the end of Welcome to the Jungle, two of the characters destroy the game cartridge to prevent anyone else from playing it. According to Gillan, this was not the original ending (though they did hear the game's drums). Jumanji 2's original ending would have left room for future installments. Presumably, since the game is magic and has already changed forms, it can also fix itself if it is broken. However, a plot once again focusing on surviving the game would be redundant.

The cast has said the movie could focus on the game’s origins. This could be very interesting considering that in Jumanji’s world the game existed as early as 1869. While in the interview, Kasdan addressed the possibility of the game interacting with other games, one interesting possibility could be to have the roles reversed. The avatars could enter the real world, and they would have to work with the other characters to get back, and failing to do so could have major consequences. But there are many ways in which this sequel can go. Until set photos or a trailer is released, there will be little viewers can do but wait.

More: Will Jumanji 3 Hurt Star Wars 9's Box Office?

Source: Collider