Jungle Cruise 2 is likely to explore new locations. Jungle Cruise opened in theaters and for Premier Access on Disney+ on July 30, 2021, and was a hit with critics and audiences, having grossed as of this writing $211 million at the worldwide box office. The film follows the adventures of riverboat captain Frank (Dwayne Johnson) as he leads Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) up the Amazon River in search of a mystical plant and encounters various threats along the way.
A sequel to Jungle Cruise was announced in August 2021, one month after the first film opened in theaters. The stars and original director Jaume Collet-Serra are all expected to return to the project. Much like fellow theme park attraction turned movie Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise was meant to be both a stand-alone picture and hopefully start a franchise. Yet it seemed likely they couldn't just return to the same jungle for a sequel, the direction of the sequel and the larger franchise began to come into question.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Jungle Cruise producer Hiram Garcia spoke about the plans for the upcoming sequel. He teased the film will explore new locations and will feature new supernatural mysteries. While he can't give details about what the creative team is planning, he said the entire creative team of the original film is returning to craft the story. Read Garcia's full quote below:
"Now that the fans [have] embraced us and have been asking for a sequel, we really start to have fun! We've met these two characters who share amazing chemistry and the world is at our disposal. We're talking about a lot of big, fun concepts that take us to different places in the world. Who knows what mysteries and supernatural things these guys are going to encounter? I can't give anything away, but I can tell you we are bringing the whole team back.
Through the first film, we formed great friendships and love and I think this will continue for the sequel. Our established relationships are going to benefit the film even more. We're excited with all the ideas we've been brainstorming on and we’re determined to get going as fast as possible."
No release date for the film has been set, but Disney did announce a slew of release dates for untitled projects that Jungle Cruise could take. Given that the film was a hit in the summer, it could occupy the reserved July 14, 2023, or July 5, 2024 release dates. The film could also take the December 15, 2023 release date as one of Disney's big holiday films, or the March 22, 2024 release date would give it the week before Easter timeframe for families to go to. Production on the movie seems to be moving forward quickly, so it is possible the release date could be sooner rather than later.
The first film ended with Frank being free from his curse and allowed to leave the jungle; the filmmakers could explore various jungles worldwide. The route the sequel could take could be creating vast mythology to make the first film part of a bigger story, like Pirates of the Caribbean, or more stand-alone adventures similar to the Indiana Jones films. They could also theoretically move away from jungles as a primary location but keep one or two scenes in a jungle to maintain the title, similar to how the Fantastic Beast films feature less fantastic beasts in the following movies. Whatever adventure Frank, Lillie, and McGregor find themselves on, the reaction to Jungle Cruise says that audiences are likely to return for the adventure.
Source: Hiram Garcia