After watching Pirates of the Caribbean become wildly popular, Disney not surprisingly hoped to recreate some of that success by basing new movies on other park attractions. Jungle Cruise apparently seemed like an ideal candidate, and the idea of a project inspired by the river adventure has been floating around the studio for years. In fact, there was even an attempt to develop it with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as stars in 2011.
Although plot details for Jungle Cruise are scarce at this point, the film is expected to take place in the past, as ’50s movies like The African Queen were the inspiration for the attraction. As for the setting, rivers in Africa and/or South America may be used. The ride brings park guests to locations on the Nile, Congo, and Amazon rivers where they see hippos, rhinos, piranhas, and more.
Johnson tweeted his excitement about the project, saying the “goal is to make [Jungle Cruise] insanely cool and fun.”
Big news! Goal is to make this insanely cool and fun for fans ’round the globe. #AdventureAwaits #JungleCruise ♦️💪🏾 https://t.co/yfs7Myj6rK
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 19, 2015
Johnson seems perfect to do just that, but he’ll have to fit Jungle Cruise into an already long list of upcoming projects. He’s set to star in Central Intelligence, which is currently filming, Rampage, Baywatch, the eighth Fast & Furious installment, a Shazam! movie, and Moana.
John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the duo that wrote and directed Focus, will pen the script, but as of now they are not attached to direct. Jungle Cruise will be produced by John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment, with Kristin Burr overseeing the film for Disney.
No release date for Junge Cruise has been announced.
