Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures – which is owned by Sony – revealed the production company are going to try and reboot Joe Johnston’s original film which stars Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt, as well as a young Kirsten Dunst.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: “We’re going to try and reimagine ‘Jumanji’ and update it for the present.”
The news follows a recent trend of Hollywood updating effects-reliant films with modern day technology; Tron: Legacy and Rise of the Planet of the Apes are notable recent examples.
Despite a tepid critical reaction, the film was deemed a success. Jumanji did well at the box office – taking over $262 million at the box office on a budget of $65 million. Director Johnston went on to direct Captain America: The First Avenger, while it cast Robin Williams at the heigh of his career; Mrs Doubtfire was released the year before, and Good Will Hunting followed in 1997. Kirsten Dunst has become one of the leading actresses of her generation, with films ranging from Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 2 to Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia.
But with a premise based around wild animals materialising from a board game, the film has dated alarmingly – mostly due to the repeated use of mechanised puppetry and rudimentary computer generated images.
Sony are obviously hoping a retelling of the story with the deployment of modern CGI – coupled with 3D -will whet the appetite of the cinema-going audience.
