Jumanji (franchise)

Jumanji
File:Jumanji (second logo).png The current logo of the franchise
Created by	Chris Van Allsburg
Original work	Jumanji (1981)
Owner	Columbia Pictures Industries
Print publications
Book(s)	Jumanji (1981) Zathura (2002)
Films and television
Film(s)	Jumanji (1995) Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Animated series	Jumanji (1996–1999)
Games
Traditional	Jumanji: The Game (1995) Zathura: Adventure is Waiting (2005) Jumanji: The Game (2017)
Video game(s)	List of video games
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	Jumanji (1995) Zathura (2005) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Jumanji is an American multimedia franchise created by American author Chris Van Allsburg and owned by Columbia Pictures Industries.

This franchise follows the adventures of various people who find themselves imperiled when playing a magic game of different types that will either unleash its dangerous elements into the real world or trap the players within the game itself. Ultimately, the only way to end the disruptions is to finish the game while enduring its resulting dangers with each succeeding move.

The franchise is based on two books by Van Allsburg, Jumanji (1981) and its sequel Zathura (2002), which in turn resulted in four theatrical films, Jumanji (1995), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). An animated television series aired from 1996 to 1999. The first film received mixed reviews from critics, while the three follow-up films received generally positive reviews. The films have collectively grossed $1.8 billion to date.

Books

Jumanji (1981)

Main article: Jumanji (picture book)

Two children, Peter and Judy, find and play a game in which each roll of the dice brings the jungle from the game (as well as the creatures that live in it) to life around them. In order to reset the world around them, they must finish the game and make it to the titular city of gold. Afterward, they get rid of the game which is found by their next-door neighbors, two young brothers.

Zathura (2002)

Main article: Zathura

Brothers Danny and Walter, neighbors of Peter and Judy from the previous book, find Jumanji but ultimately choose not to play it. Instead, they find a similar game with a space theme, Zathura, which they begin to play. As with Jumanji, playing Zathura brings elements of the game into reality, and in order to set everything back to normal, the boys must complete the game.

Films

Film	U.S. release date	Director	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producers
Jumanji	December 15, 1995 (1995-12-15)	Joe Johnston	Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor and Jim Strain	Greg Taylor, Jim Strain and Chris Van Allsburg	Scott Kroopf and William Teitler
Zathura: A Space Adventure	November 11, 2005 (2005-11-11)	Jon Favreau	David Koepp and John Kamps		William Teitler, Scott Kroopf and Michael De Luca
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	December 20, 2017 (2017-12-20)	Jake Kasdan	Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner	Chris McKenna	Matt Tolmach and William Teitler
Jumanji: The Next Level	December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13)		Jake Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg		Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Matt Tolmach and William Teitler

Jumanji (1995)

Main article: Jumanji

Two children find and play a magical board game. In doing so, they release a man trapped for decades in its inner dimension and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Main article: Zathura: A Space Adventure

Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is hurled through the depths of space by the magical board game they are playing. Furthermore, the brothers surmise the only way to return home is to finish the game.

Though there are no direct references to Jumanji in Zathura: A Space Adventure and the movie's plot is self-contained, the studio marketed it as being set within the same fictional universe, and is thematically similar to the other franchise installments. The film is based on the children's book Zathura, also written by Van Allsburg, which was a sequel to the Jumanji novel. Despite the film's placement within the same fictional universe, director Jon Favreau discouraged the notion that the film is a sequel, having not particularly liked that film.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Main article: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Twenty-one years after the events of the original film, the board game has magically become a video game. Four high school teenagers are transported to the game's jungle setting and become the avatars of the characters they chose, and later discover another victim trapped in the game as well. The only way out is to complete the game and in doing so, they each discover the best of themselves and win with a newfound heroism to see the challenge through. The film served as a direct sequel to the 1995 film.

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Main article: Jumanji: The Next Level

A team of friends return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own but discover that nothing is as they expect. The players need to brave parts unknown, from arid deserts to snowy mountains, in order to escape the world's most dangerous game.

In February 2019, Jack Black stated this film is the fourth Jumanji film, because of Zathura: A Space Adventure which served as the second installment in the franchise; sharing continuity with the other films of the series, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle serving as the third film.

Television

Jumanji (1996–1999)

Main article: Jumanji (TV series)

An animated television series inspired by the 1995 film ran for three seasons from 1996 to 1999.

Principal cast and characters

Key

• A indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
• An indicates a role as a video game avatar of the character.
• A indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Character	Films				Television series
	Jumanji	Zathura: A Space Adventure	Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	Jumanji: The Next Level	Jumanji: The Animated Series
	1995	2005	2017	2019	1996–1999
Nora Shepherd	Bebe Neuwirth			Bebe Neuwirth	Melanie Chartoff
Professor Van Pelt	Jonathan Hyde		Bobby Cannavale	Mentioned	Sherman Howard
Samuel Alan "Sam" Parrish
Alan Robert John Jason Parrish III	Robin Williams		Mentioned		Bill Fagerbakke
	Adam Hann-Byrd				Justin Jon Ross
Judith "Judy" Shepherd	Kirsten Dunst	Mentioned			Debi Derryberry
Peter Shepherd	Bradley Pierce				Ashley Johnson
					Cam Clarke
Carl Bentley	David Alan Grier				Richard Allen
Sarah Whittle	Bonnie Hunt
	Laura Bell Bundy
Walter Budwing The Astronaut		Josh Hutcherson
		Dax Sheppard
Daniel "Danny" Budwing		Jonah Bobo
Lisa Budwing		Kristen Stewart
Mr. Budwing		Tim Robbins
Robot		John Alexander
		Frank Oz
Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone			Dwayne Johnson	Dwayne Johnson
				Zachary Tzegaegbe
Martha Kaply Ruby Roundhouse			Morgan Turner
			Karen Gillan
Franklin "Mouse" Finbar			Kevin Hart
Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon			Jack Black
Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonaugh			Nick Jonas
Spencer Gilpin			Alex Wolff
Anthony "Fridge" Johnson			Ser'Darius Blain
Bethany Walker			Madison Iseman
Alex Vreeke			Colin Hanks	Colin Hanks
			Mason Gussione
Nigel Billingsley			Rhys Darby
Mrs. Gilpin, Spencer's Mom			Marin Hinkle
Bethany Vreeke, Alex's Daughter			Actress is Uncredited	Madison Johnson
Mr. Vreeke			Tim Matheson
			Sean Buxton
Principal Bentley			Marc Evan Jackson
Eddie Gilpin				Danny DeVito
Milo Walker				Danny Glover
Ming Fleetfoot				Awkwafina
Jurgen the Brutal				Rory McCann
Professor J.S. Heinrich Ibsen				Mentioned	William Sanderson
Ostrich				Characters are Silent	Melanie Chartoff

Additional crew

Role	Films
	Jumanji	Zathura: A Space Adventure	Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	Jumanji: The Next Level
	1995	2005	2017	2019
Composer(s)	James Horner	John Debney	Henry Jackman
Cinematography	Thomas E. Ackerman	Guillermo Navarro	Gyula Pados
Editor(s)	Robert Dalva	Dan Lebental	Mark Helfrich Steve Edwards	Mark Helfrich Steve Edwards Tara Timpone
Production companies	Interscope Communications Teitler Film	Columbia Pictures Radar Pictures Teitler Film Michael De Luca Productions	Columbia Pictures Matt Tolmach Productions Seven Bucks Productions	Columbia Pictures Matt Tolmach Productions Seven Bucks Productions Hartbeat Productions The Dectective Agency
Distributor	TriStar Pictures	Sony Pictures Releasing
Running time	104 minutes	101 minutes	119 minutes	123 minutes

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget	Ref.
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
Jumanji	December 15, 1995	$100,475,249	$162,322,000	$262,797,249	$65 million
Zathura: A Space Adventure	November 11, 2005	$29,258,869	$35,062,632	$64,321,501	$65 million
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	December 20, 2017	$404,515,480	$557,562,066	$962,077,546	$90 million
Jumanji: The Next Level	December 13, 2019	$236,206,405	$374,000,000	$610,206,405	$125 million
Total		$770,456,003	$1,128,946,698	$1,899,402,701	$345 million

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Jumanji	54% (37 reviews)	39 (18 reviews)	A-
Zathura: A Space Adventure	75% (159 reviews)	67 (30 reviews)	B+
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	76% (227 reviews)	58 (44 reviews)	A-
Jumanji: The Next Level	70% (215 reviews)	58 (34 reviews)	A-

Video games

Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure Game Pack (1996)

Jumanji: A Jungle Adventure is a video game released exclusively in North America for Microsoft Windows on October 9, 1996. It was developed by Studio Interactive and published by Philips Interactive Media. It contains five different action-arcade-based minigames that are based on popular scenes from the film.

Zathura (2005)

Zathura is an action-adventure video game developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Games. It was released on November 3, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Jumanji (2006)

Jumanji is a party video game released exclusively in Europe for the PlayStation 2 on 2006, developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Blast! Entertainment.

Jumanji (2007)

Fujishoji released a Pachinko game in 2007, using clips from the film and also 3D rendered CGI anime character designs for the game as part of the screen interaction.

Jumanji: The Mobile Game (2017)

Jumanji: The Mobile Game was a mobile game based on the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle developed by Idiocracy Games and published by NHN Entertainment, and released for Android and iOS on December 14, 2017. The game was removed from Google Play and App Store on May 2, 2018, and its service ended on May 24, 2018.

Jumanji: The VR Adventure (2018)

Jumanji: The VR Adventure was a virtual reality experience based on the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Developed by MWM Immersive and published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality, it was released on Steam for HTC Vive on January 17, 2018. Although it was announced that the experience would be released on Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, the releases were canceled, as the game was heavily criticized for its poor graphics and hardware performance. It was delisted from Steam on February 9, 2018.

Jumanji: The Video Game (2019)

Jumanji: The Video Game is an action-adventure video game developed by Funsolve and published by Outright Games. Based on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level, it was released on November 8, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.