Dwayne Johnson shows off the massive practical set constructed for Jungle Cruise in the latest promotional video for the Disneyland ride turned big-budget tentpole. The Rock is currently in the midst of shooting the historical action-adventure, with Emily Blunt serving as his costar and director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows, The Commuter) calling the shots.
Disney has been planning to make a movie based on its classic Jungle Cruise attraction - which was one of the rides that launched on Disneyland's opening day in 1955 - for more than a decade now. While the project went through a few different iterations and was set to be a buddy adventure starring Toy Story duo Tom Hanks and Tim Allen at one point, it ultimately became a vehicle for Johnson in 2015. The Rock, as he does with all his films nowadays, has since lent his impressive social media marketing talents to the project and kept fans continuously up to speed on its progress down the pipeline.
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Case in point: the public got their first look at Johnson and Blunt in their Jungle Cruise costumes last month, via a set video that The Rock did his part to circulate far and wide across the 'Net. Johnson and Disney have now unveiled more footage from the movie's ongoing production, via a behind the scenes look where Johnson provides a brief history lesson about the Jungle Cruise ride and how Walt Disney served as its very first skipper. However, the big "reveal" comes near the end of the video, as the camera zooms out to a wide shot of the film's practical set. Take a look, below:
The Jungle Cruise set, which was built in Hawaii, appears to retain the general aesthetic of the original Adventureland ride, based on this new footage. While most of the film will probably take place either on the nearby river or the jungle terrain shown here, the movie - which unfolds during the early 20th century - will presumably start out at the dock in this video. Similarly, this should be the place where characters like Johnson's riverboat captain and Paul Giamatti's "crusty" harbormaster hang their hats, as well as the spot where The Rock first meets Blunt's scientist Lily Houghton in the film.
Much like the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the intention seems to be for Jungle Cruise to carry over elements of the ride that inspired it, yet at the same time work as set piece-driven genre fare on its own terms. Most every film that The Rock makes nowadays has built-in franchise potential and chances are the Mouse House is likewise hoping that his Indiana Jones-esque adventure does well enough at the box office to earn a sequel. If nothing else, Jungle Cruise will have a proper sense of blockbuster scale, judging by the latest sneak peek video.
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Source: Walt Disney Studios
