Director Jake Kasdan has confirmed Jumanji 4 is in early development. The Jumanji movies kicked off in 1995 with Joe Johnston's original film, which reimagined Chris Van Allsburg's illustrated 1981 children's book as a family-friendly adventure starring Robin Williams. While Johnston's adaptation was a box office success, it didn't get a followup until the 2017 sequel-reboot, Welcome to the Jungle. Featuring an all-new cast led by Dwayne Johnson, the revival was an unexpected smash-hit and a sequel titled The Next Level was released almost exactly two years later in December 2019.
Overall, The Next Level was another win for the franchise, grossing $797 million worldwide and earning mostly positive reviews (though not as good as those for Welcome to the Jungle). The film even included a post-credits scene directly setting the stage for Jumanji 4, based on the assumption the third Jumanji movie would do well enough to justify making another one. That's exactly what happened and we now have confirmation the next installment is moving forward, albeit slower than anticipated because of the coronavirus pandemic.
During a recent interview, Collider got an update on Jumanji 4 from Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level helmsman Kasdan. The filmmaker revealed the sequel is currently in the earliest stages of development, saying "We were just getting into the conversation before this global calamity and we will re-engage it as soon as everybody’s settled." He went on to say he wants the plot for Jumanji 4 to be "exciting on its own two feet in a way that’s comparable to what the first two were for me," before reiterating he and his team are still in "the earliest days of trying to figure out what that would be."
One of the biggest twists in The Next Level involves the villain Jurgen the Brutal (Game of Thrones' Rory McCann), who's revealed to have strengths and weaknesses much like the heroic avatars in the Jumanji video game. In a social media post from late last year, Johnson confirmed Jurgen is also a playable avatar and teased Jumanji 4 will reveal who's been playing him in the real world. Kasdan further alluded to the idea during his interview with Collider, saying he "would love to" reveal The Next Level's hidden villain in the next installment. In addition, The Next Level's credits scene suggested Jumanji 4 will take place in the real world, much like the original Jumanji movie did. If so, it opens the door to all sorts of possibilities, not least of which is the Jumanji video game avatars and series' young heroes meeting face to face.
With the coronavirus slowing down development, it's reasonable to assume Jumanji 4 will take longer to come together than The Next Level did. It might be for the better, though; many reviews felt The Next Level, while a lot of fun, was noticeably rough around the edges in terms of its editing and could've used some additional polishing. Johnson's availability could also be an obstacle. The actor was in the middle of filming Netflix's action-thriller Red Notice when it shut down over health concerns, and shooting on his Black Adam movie is similarly expected to be delayed because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Still, for now, Jumanji fans can take comfort in knowing they will get to return to the jungle at some point.
Source: Collider