Jumanji (franchise)


Jumanji is an American media franchise, based on the children's books Jumanji and its sequel Zathura, written by American Chris Van Allsburg. The franchise is owned by Columbia Pictures as a subsidiary of Sony Pictures.
This plot of the franchise follows the adventures of various people who find themselves imperiled when playing Jumanji, that will either unleash its dangerous elements into the real world or trap the players within the game. Ultimately, the only way to end the disruptions is to finish the game while enduring its resulting dangers with each succeeding move.
The franchise includes four films: Jumanji, ', ', and ; and an animated television series which aired from 1996 to 1999. The first film received mixed reviews from critics, while the three follow-up films received positive critical response. The films have collectively grossed $2 billion to-date.

Origin

''Jumanji'' (1981)

Two children, Peter and Judy, find and play a game in which each roll of the dice brings the jungle from the game to life around them. In order to reset the world around them, they must finish the game and make it to the titular city of gold. Afterward, they get rid of the game which is found by their next-door neighbors, two young brothers.

''Zathura'' (2002)

Brothers Danny and Walter, neighbors of Peter and Judy from the previous book, find Jumanji but ultimately choose not to play it. Instead, they find a similar game on the same board with a space theme, Zathura, which they begin to play. As with Jumanji, playing Zathura brings elements of the game into reality, and in order to set everything back to normal, the boys must complete the game.

Films

''Jumanji'' (1995)

Two children find and play a magical board game. In doing so, they release a man trapped for decades in its inner dimension and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.

''Zathura: A Space Adventure'' (2005)

Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is hurled through the depths of space by the magical board game they are playing. Furthermore, the brothers surmise the only way to return home is to finish the game.
Though there are no direct references to Jumanji in Zathura: A Space Adventure and the movie's plot is self-contained, the studio marketed it as being set within the same fictional universe, and is thematically similar to the other franchise installments. The film is based on the children's book Zathura, also written by Van Allsburg, which was a sequel to the Jumanji novel. Despite the film's placement within the same fictional universe, director Jon Favreau discouraged the notion that the film is a sequel, having not particularly liked that film.

''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'' (2017)

Twenty-one years after the events of the original film, the board game has magically become a video game. Four high school teenagers are transported to the game's jungle setting and become the avatars of the characters they chose, and later discover another victim trapped in the game as well. The only way out is to complete the game and in doing so, they each discover the best of themselves and win with a newfound heroism to see the challenge through. The film served as a direct sequel to the 1995 film.

''Jumanji: The Next Level'' (2019)

A team of friends return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own but discover that nothing is as they expect. The players need to brave parts unknown, from arid deserts to snowy mountains, in order to escape the world's most dangerous game.

Future

In December 2019, Dwayne Johnson revealed that the next installment in the franchise would reveal that Jurgen the Brutal, the villain in The Next Level, was an avatar in the game, and that the identity of who was playing as the character would be explored.
In March of 2020, writer/director Jake Kasdan confirmed early developments for a follow-up movie. He confirmed plans to maintain the core cast of the previous two films. The following month, Jake Kasdan stated that the story for the next installment was in development.

Television

''Jumanji'' (1996–1999)

was an animated television series inspired by the 1995 film which ran for three seasons from 1996 to 1999.

Main cast and characters


Key

  • A indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
  • An indicates a role as a video game avatar of the character.
  • A indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
  • A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Additional crew & production details

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Video games

; Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure Game Pack
Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure is a video game released exclusively in North America for Microsoft Windows on October 9, 1996. It was developed by Studio Interactive and published by Philips Interactive Media. It contains five different action-arcade-based minigames that are based on popular scenes from the film.
; Zathura
Zathura is an action-adventure video game developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Games. It was released on November 3, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
; Jumanji
Jumanji is a party video game released exclusively in Europe for the PlayStation 2 on 2006, developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Blast! Entertainment.
; Jumanji
Fujishoji released a Pachinko game in 2007, using clips from the film and also 3D rendered CGI anime character designs for the game as part of the screen interaction.
; Jumanji: The Mobile Game
Jumanji: The Mobile Game was a mobile game based on the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle developed by Idiocracy Games and published by NHN Entertainment, and released for Android and iOS on December 14, 2017. The game was removed from Google Play and App Store on May 2, 2018, and its service ended on May 24, 2018.
; Jumanji: The VR Adventure
Jumanji: The VR Adventure was a virtual reality experience based on the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Developed by MWM Immersive and published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality, it was released on Steam for HTC Vive on January 17, 2018. Although it was announced that the experience would be released on Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, the releases were canceled, as the game was heavily criticized for its poor graphics and hardware performance. It was delisted from Steam on February 9, 2018.
; Jumanji: The Video Game
Jumanji: The Video Game is an action-adventure video game developed by Funsolve and published by Outright Games. Based on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level, it was released on November 8, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.