‘Jumanji’ Cast, Updates: Dwayne Johnson Teases “Continuation”, Not Reboot; Reunites with Kevin Hart, Jack Black

‘Jumanji’ actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson teased that the upcoming film will be a continuation and not a reboot of the original fantasy-adventure film directed by Joe Johnston. He is set to reunite with industry friends Kevin Hart and Jack Black in the new cast.

According to the A.V. Club, Johnson recently confirmed that the upcoming ‘Jumanji’ film is set to be a continuation and not a reboot of the classic 1995 film starring the late Robin Williams.

The 44-year old actor recently posted on Instagram that he had finished filming F. Gary Gray’s ‘Fast 8’ and is moving on to the new project. He wrote, “And now in two weeks I'll reunite with ol' friends Kevin Hart & Jack Black and we have the honor to introduce a whole new generation to the amazing world of #JUMANJI. *(for the record we are NOT making a reboot, but rather a continuation of the awesome JUMANJI story)."

Johnson first announced his involvement last April on Instagram, according to Gamespot. He said, "It's official. We'll produce and deliver to a whole new generation a title that I love and is one of my favs: There's games you play for fun...then there's games that change your life. Jumanji." He also previously said that the new film will honor the memory of Williams, who starred as main protagonist Alan Parrish.

Production is reportedly scheduled to begin in the fall in Hawaii. It will be directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Scott Rosenberg. Kasdan is best known for his work on films such as 2002’s ‘Orange County’, 2007’s ‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’, 2011’s ‘Bad Teacher’, and 2014’s ‘Sex Tape’.

Jack Black and Nick Jonas are joining Johnson and Hart in the new cast in yet unnamed roles, according to /Film. Ted Field, William Teitler, Matthew Tolmach, and Mike Weber are producing while Lauren Selig is executive producing. It is produced under Matt Tolmach Productions, Radar Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment and distributed by Columbia Pictures in the United States.

‘Jumanji’ is an upcoming adventure-fantasy film scheduled to be released on July 28, 2017. It is the continuation of the original 1995 film released on December 1995. The first ‘Jumanji’ film was considered one of the the highest-grossing film of that year. Despite its lukewarm reception among critics, it was a financial success earning $262.75 million against a production budget of $65 million.