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Wide ScreenUnnecessary remakes: ‘Jumanji’ reboot in the works
Is rebooting a movie about catering to nostalgia, or does it have more to do with Hollywood just being out of ideas? With the plethora of remakes and sequels based on properties enjoyed by millennials in their collective youth, it's probably a little of both.
Big screen adaptations of '80s and '90s cartoons like "Transformers," "G.I. Joe," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" have done extremely well at the box office in recent years, so it should come as no surprise that Hollywood now sees this stuff as a bit of a gold mine. No property is safe. If millennials watched it as kids, it's likely already being developed into a feature film by one of the studios.
Take "Jumanji," the 1995 fantasy film based on Chris Van Allsburg's children's story of the same name. Directed by Joe Johnston ("Captain America: The First Avenger"), the film follows a pair of kids who discover a magical board game called Jumanji and unleash the terrors of the jungle by playing it. "Jumanji" starred Robin Williams and a young Kirsten Dunst. The film is by no means a classic, but it's a favourite of many people who grew up in the 1990s.
However, fond memories are basically all the excuse Hollywood needs for a contemporary reimagining, and "Jumanji" is no exception to that rule. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia Pictures chief Doug Belgrad let slip that the studio is currently developing a reboot of "Jumanji," an updated retelling of the story for modern audiences who enjoyed the original movie as children. The remake is part of an effort by Columbia's parent company, Sony, to expand their family entertainment market. Part of that strategy included producing the reviled live-action version of "The Smurfs," so don't get your hopes up for the "Jumanji" reboot quite yet.
If a modern version of "Jumanji" sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because there has already been such a movie. Columbia has apparently forgotten about the film's spiritual sequel, 2005's "Zathura" directed by Jon Favreau. Also based on a story by Van Allsburg, "Zathura" is essentially "Jumanji in Space." The film was well-received by critics but did poorly at the box office, with many blaming "Zathura's" failure on itssimilarities to "Jumanji."
While it's obviously too soon to predict how the "Jumanji" reboot would perform at the box office, there's probably a lesson to be learned here from "Zathura." Sure, it's been 17 years since the the original, but those fond memories people have of "Jumanji" are sure to result in a lot of negative reactions to the reboot. Are you game, Columbia?
Watch the original "Jumanji" trailer below.
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