‘Jumanji 2’ Cast Updates: Karen Gillan of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Joins Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart in Director Jake Kasdan’s Sequel

‘Jumanji 2’ is set to feature Karen Gillan in a yet unnamed key role. The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ actress is set to join Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black in the sequel directed by Jake Kasdan.

According to Movie Web, Gillan recently joined the new cast of the upcoming sequel to the iconic adventure-fantasy film of the same name released in 1995. Lead actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson confirmed the news of Gillan’s involvement in a new Instagram post.

Johnson began the lengthy post with, “Between myself, @kevinhart4real Jack Black and @NickJonas we've searched far and wide to find the one person to complete our Jumanji family. This isn't just any role, but in many ways the most important role of the movie…”

He continued, “We had to find a girl. But not just any girl. A girl who has "Chutzpah". Guts, nerve and talent to stand her ground and hold her own against Nick's [Jonas] cool rockstar ways, Jack's [Black] relentless energy and genius, Kevin's [Hart] masterful timing…”

Johnson ended the post with, “Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to announce a girl who's playing the most important role in our movie - the talented, beautiful and down for a Scottish fight at any time, Ms @KarenGillanOfficial.”

Gillan is best known for her role as Nebula in Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ film series. She also starred in the BBC science-fiction television series ‘Doctor Who’ as Amy Pond.

Johnson revealed that production for the upcoming sequel is scheduled to begin in Hawaii sometime in September. He stressed that the film will not be a reboot of the original 1995 film starring Robin Williams but will be a “continuation”.

The first ‘Jumanji’ film was adapted from the 1981 children’s book of the same name. Although it received lukewarm reviews from critics, it was deemed a box office success upon its release on December 1995. According to Box Office Mojo, the film earned $262.79 million worldwide on a production budget of $65 million.

‘Jumanji’ is an upcoming action-adventure film scheduled to premiere in the U.S. on July 28, 2017. It is directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Zach Helm, Chris McKenna, Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Erik Sommers. It is produced by Matt Tolmach Productions, Radar Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.