Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Dwayne Johnson sends urgent message from the deep, dark jungles of ‘Jumanji’

Filming is currently underway on a new Jumanji movie, and star Dwayne Johnson posted a video from the set of the film that features the deep, dark jungle that serves as his temporary home.

Okay, so maybe it’s not so deep and dark, as the video eventually reveals — much to Johnson’s annoyance.

Helmed by Bad Teacher and Sex Tape director Jake Kasdan, Jumanji is — according to Johnson — more of a sequel to Joe Johnston’s 1995 film than a remake. Along with Johnson in the lead role, the film also stars Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black.

Recommended Videos

After revealing the first photo of the cast together in costume earlier this week, Johnson hinted that the four actors were playing avatars of the children who encounter the magical board game that makes the jungle come alive around them. Johnson plays a character named Dr. Smolder Bravestone, while Hart plays Moose Finbar, Karen Gillan is Ruby Roundhouse, and Jack Black is Professor Shelly Oberon.

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on

The script for Jumanji was penned by High Fidelity and Con Air scribe Scott Rosenberg, and like the 1995 original film, is based on Chris Van Allsburg’s children’s book about kids who play a mysterious board game, only to discover the game’s dangerous jungle world invading their suburban neighborhood.

The 1995 film starred Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Jonathan Hyde, Bonnie Hunt, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, and Patricia Clarkson.

Jumanji is scheduled to hit theaters July 28, 2017.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Thunderbolts* final trailer teases a shot at redemption for Marvel’s antiheroes
The Thunderbolts are tied up and look up.

It's all about redemption in the final trailer for Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts*.

Each member of the Thunderbolts — including Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Wyatt Russell as John Walker — have done bad things. Without the Avengers, the world needs new heroes, especially when the Void (Lewis Pullman) threatens to spread the darkness and destroy humanity.

Read more
If you have to watch one Peacock movie this April 2025, stream this one
A man stands behind a table while wearing a suit.

The world is filled with injustice, and we ignore most of it because it would be hard to go through the world otherwise. That's what can make a movie like Dark Waters feel so bracing. The film, which was released in 2019 and almost immediately became underrated, tells the story of an attorney who slowly connects a number of deaths in a small, rural town to one of the world's biggest corporations.
As he comes to appreciate the scale of the conspiracy he's uncovered, he begins to fear for his life and for the lives of millions around the world. It's a dark, bracing movie, but one well worth watching while it's available on Peacock. Here are three reasons it's worth checking out:
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and the best shows on Disney+.
Dark Waters is about something relatively mundane, but it plays like a conspiracy thriller
DARK WATERS | Official Trailer | In Theaters November 22
The mystery at the heart of Dark Waters is sinister, but what makes the movie so remarkable is the way it manages to make a story about the dangers of Teflon feel like All the President's Men.
Thanks to expert direction from Todd Haynes and an impressive script, we learn everything we need to know about this dangerous material and about why DuPont was so intent on covering it up. Dark Waters is far from the first movie to tell the story of a crusading attorney fighting for disadvantaged people, but Dark Waters knows exactly where and when to defy your expectations.

It's anchored by Anne Hathaway and Mark Ruffalo

Read more
NASA debuts free documentary on the race to stop killer asteroids
Artist's impression of an asteroid. This image is not intended to reflect the characteristics of any specific known asteroid.

NASA has just premiered Planetary Defenders, a fascinating documentary looking at the high-stakes work geared toward protecting Earth from large asteroids spotted coming our way. 

The 75-minute production (above) features the astronomers and scientists who are working tirelessly to identify and monitor asteroids considered a potential threat -- including, briefly, this one that made headlines earlier this year.

Read more