The Jumanji cast has assembled for a first look photo, and it certainly looks like a diverse group of individuals. The film is a sequel to director Joe Johnston’s 1995 family adventure film, which itself was based on a children’s book of the same name. Jake Kasdan, the filmmaker behind Orange County, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Bad Teacher, is at the helm of this new iteration, which was in the works at Sony for quite a while before Dwayne Johnson signed on to star, then suddenly the project catapulted into production as tends to happen when franchise viagra arrives.

In this first-look image (as revealed by co-star Kevin Hart), we see the main players of the story all decked out in jungle gear. Starring alongside Johnson and Hart are Guardians of the Galaxy actress Karen Gillan and Kasdan’s Orange County cohort Jack Black. It’s unclear how, exactly, this new Jumanji connects to the original film, but Johnson has said that his character is an homage to Indiana Jones, and it certainly looks as though the main events of this follow-up might actually be taking place in the board game.


Production is underway in Hawaii, and I wonder if there will be many outside-the-game elements or if we’ll be focusing on characters who have been stuck in Jumanji for a long while. Black’s character certainly looks a bit like a man out of time, so there’s a swell comedic opportunity for some culture clashes via characters from different eras interacting with one another.

Looking at this photo, however, it’s hard to ignore the fact that while the dudes are decked out in appropriate jungle gear, Gillan’s character is for some reason only wearing half a shirt. Same old, same old.

Check out the first Jumanji image below. The film opens in theaters on July 28, 2017.

Update: Johnson himself shared the same image but with the bonus addition of character names and a promise that Gillian's attire would make sense within the movie:

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Image via Sony