Sony’s rejuvenated Jumanji franchise has proven to be a hugely successful venture for the studio. Last December’s sequel The Next Level earned just shy of $800 million worldwide, for instance. That’s not quite as high as Welcome to the Jungle‘s near $1 billion gross, but it’s still impressive. Jumanji 4 – the third in this series but the fourth including the 1995 film – seems like a no-brainer, then. And finally, we’ve got it officially confirmed that it’s on the way.
While speaking with Collider, director Jake Kasdan revealed that work was just beginning on J4 before the current health crisis naturally caused them to hit the pause button for now. The filmmaker explained that his aim is to make sure the story is as strong as the previous two, both of which he directed, and that he and his team are in the early stages of mapping the plot out.
“We were just getting into the conversation before this global calamity and we will re-engage it as soon as everybody’s settled. We all love working together and we’ve loved making these. To me, the thing that’s always been most critical when talking about a sequel, first in the first movie and now in the possibility of another sequel is, it would have to be exciting on its own two feet in a way that’s comparable to what the first two were for me. I would have to love the idea just as much. So I think there will be a third one and it’s just the earliest days of trying to figure out what that would be.”
Kasdan’s confirmation to Collider follows on from We Got This Covered breaking the news on Jumanji 4 shortly before TNL hit cinemas. Our sources told us at the time that Sony was definitely moving forward on a closer to this new trilogy and our intel pointed to the plot revolving around the game coming into the real-world. This concept was introduced in Next Level‘s post-credits scene and going by Kasdan’s comments, this premise is locked in already. Though they’re still working out the ins and outs of the storyline.
In this same interview, the director made clear that he “would love” to explain who was really behind Jurgen, the villain of the last movie, who was actually a playable character. So, it seems like that revelation would factor in there somehow, too. There’s no telling exactly when Jumanji 4 is coming at present, then, but we know that we’ll be welcomed back to the jungle eventually.