Sony Pictures has set a December 25 theatrical release date for the third instalment of its Jumanji franchise, shifting the film from its earlier scheduled debut of December 11, according to entertainment news outlet The Hollywood Reporter.
Jumanji 3 will arrive in theatres a week after Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3. In India, the film will clash at the box office with Siddharth Anand’s King, starring Shah Rukh Khan.
The upcoming film will see the return of core cast members Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan, reprising their roles from the previous films.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, the project is produced by Matt Tolmach, Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Kasdan. The screenplay is written by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, who also penned the earlier instalments.
Actors Alex Wolff, Madison Iseman, Ser'Darius Blaine and Morgan Turner, who portrayed the real-world teens in the previous films, are also expected to return, along with Awkwafina.
The Jumanji franchise originated from Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 picture book about a magical board game that comes to life. Sony’s 1995 film adaptation, starring Robin Williams, became a family classic.
More than two decades later, the series was rebooted with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), which reimagined the concept by transforming the board game into a video game setting. The film went on to gross USD 962.5 million worldwide and was followed by Jumanji: The Next Level in 2019, which earned USD 800 million globally.
