Sony has released the first Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle trailer. The film centers on four high schoolers who, during their time in detention, come across the ancient, powerful game Jumanji, and are sucked into the game world. Once there, they take on the appearance of avatars played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black.
This looks like a fun twist on the Jumanji premise. Instead of having the game world come into our world, it looks like the film will play with videogame tropes. It's also poking fun at the conventions of video games as Gillan's teenager notes that her avatar's skimpy outfit is completely inappropriate for the jungle. Hopefully, the rest of the movie maintains that satiric outlook while also letting the actors have fun playing their inner teenager whether it be a shy nerd, tough jock, or mean girl.
Check out the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle trailer below. The film opens December 20th and also stars Missi Pyle, Bobby Cannavale, Rhys Darby, Tim Matheson, and Nick Jonas.
Here’s the official synopsis for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle:
When four high-school kids discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of – Jumanji – they are immediately drawn into the game’s jungle setting, literally becoming the avatars they chose: gamer Spencer becomes a brawny adventurer (Dwayne Johnson); football jock Fridge loses (in his words) “the top two feet of his body” and becomes an Einstein (Kevin Hart); popular girl Bethany becomes a middle-aged male professor (Jack Black); and wallflower Martha becomes a badass warrior (Karen Gillan). What they discover is that you don’t just play Jumanji – you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves – or they’ll be stuck in the game forever…