After more than a decade in development, Disney’s newest action-adventure epic
called “Jungle Cruise'' has finally charted a course into theaters.
Before you see it, here’s everything we know so far.
Back in 2018, it looked like we'd be seeing "Jungle Cruise" much sooner. As the film
pushed through its development schedule, the Walt Disney Company was prepared to
roll the film out as early as 2019, and set an initial release date for October
of that year. That would have pitted the film against eventual hits like "Joker." However,
well before that release date was upon us, Disney shifted the film.
There was some speculation at the time that "Jungle Cruise" had been moved to
occupy a prime theatrical release window that had previously been reserved for a "Star Wars" film.
Remember, in 2018 Disney was still purportedly working toward a goal of releasing a "Star
Wars" flick every year, alternating between main saga stories and spinoffs. Then "Solo:
A Star Wars Story" arrived to disappointing box office returns in May of 2018,
setting the stage for a bit of a retooling. By 2019, there were no "Star Wars" films planned
for 2020, so "Jungle Cruise" was tapped in to compete in the busy summer box office schedule.
We got another potential release date after that first false start: July 24, 2020. It was
going to be a classic sweet summer blockbuster, just the way things used to be. Unfortunately,
thanks to the pandemic, that 2020 date has come and gone. A few rumors circulated that Disney
might go the VOD route with the first entry in its franchise, but that all proved to be hearsay.
Disney remained committed to a traditional theatrical release for its adventurous tentpole.
Fear not, Disney fans, "Jungle Cruise" will enjoy a traditional theatrical release on July 30,
2021, and it seems like this one's really going to take.
That means this release date comes almost three full years after the formal conclusion
of filming back in September 2018. We'll have to wait for the press junkets to see
if Johnson and Blunt even remember what the movie's about. Mark your calendars.
After years of development, the first official trailer finally arrived online in October of 2019.
The footage revealed an action-adventure comedy that owes a lot to previous
period pieces in the subgenre. Think of Disney's own "Pirates
of the Caribbean" and Universal's "Mummy" franchise from the 2000s.
"We are in serious trouble."
The trailer begins by establishing the film as a period drama set sometime in the early
20th century, though not so early that automobiles aren't prevalent. From there,
it's more-or-less non-stop action and comedy. We get to meet our main characters, Lily and Frank,
and we see the two of them meet and team up. But what we don't see a whole lot of
is the actual jungle cruise the characters are set to embark on. Still, there's just
enough here to hint that the trip will soon turn supernatural with help from an ancient curse.
A second full-length trailer that came down the pike in 2021 is even
more absolutely action-packed. It keeps the focus on Blunt and Johnson,
often in pursuit of or being pursued by some nasty business,
supernatural or otherwise. It also provides a few more glimpses of the actual cruise in question.
There's even some Jesse Plemons action in what looks to be a German U-Boat.
“Hallöchen!”
This is likely the final glimpse of the project before game time, so go ahead and fire it up.
"Jungle Cruise" is set to be a rollicking action-comedy vehicle in the vein of past
Disney hits like "Pirates of the Caribbean." As with Johnny Depp and the first "Pirates" film,
one of the keys to the project's success is picking a star to frame the film around,
and then filling out a compelling ensemble.
In the case of "Jungle Cruise," the star role will be filled by not one but
two stars with experience in both action and comedy. The film's leading man is Dwayne Johnson,
who began circling the movie as far back as 2015, and finally hopped aboard in 2017. In 2018,
it was revealed that Johnson's co-star for the film would be Emily Blunt,
who's proven her action chops on films like "Edge of Tomorrow" and "A Quiet Place."
She’s also already had major successes with Disney in films like "Into the Woods" and "Mary Poppins
Returns." Both leads are known commodities, and by the looks of the trailers released to date,
a lot of the movie's success will be hanging on their performances.
While Johnson and Blunt are the key leads to the film, they're not the only stars attached. The
film will also feature "Breaking Bad" and "Fargo" standout Jesse Plemons in a villainous role.
In addition, British comedian Jack Whitehall stars as the brother of Blunt's character. Édgar Ramírez
plays a mercenary leading another expedition to the Tree of Life in direct competition with the
Johnson-Blunt cruise. "Billions" star Paul Giamatti is involved in a role originally
described as a "crusty harbormaster." So then, it's as star-studded as you might expect from
the franchise Disney hopes will become the successor to "Pirates of the Caribbean."
"Jungle Cruise" is a period film that's heavy on the kind of action-comedy blend
that inspired classics like the "Indiana Jones" films.
It's a swashbuckling adventure that will feature no small number of set pieces and big effects.
The film follows Lily, a scientist who makes a shocking discovery in London that could lead
her to the legendary Tree of Life. The trouble is, the Tree lies deep in the Amazon rainforest,
which means she's got to travel to South America and set herself up with transportation.
Once there, she meets Frank, a jungle cruise captain who seems more interested in conning
tourists out of their money than helping anyone to find a place that sounds like it's make-believe.
Lily and her brother have plenty of money to hire Frank, though, so he takes the job.
From there, it's an all-out adventure into the heart of the Amazon river,
but the journey to the Tree of Life won't be easy. Lily's not the only one trying to find it,
of course, and it turns out she and Frank may also be contending with an ancient curse.
All the elements are there. The quest. The elevated, fantasy-historical setting. The stylish
visual effects. Heck — there's even an ancient curse. It really is "Curse of the Black Pearl" on
the Amazon River in the best possible ways. There are certainly worse films to emulate, after all.
The film's journey to the big screen begins with the theme park
attraction's opening at Disneyland in 1955. For our purposes, though,
the real road to a movie version of the ride kicked off in the 2000s, after Walt Disney
Pictures saw major success with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."
That film, also based on a Disney Parks attraction, launched an action-adventure
franchise for the studio, so Disney started to mine other possible park rides for film material.
"Jungle Cruise" seemed like a natural fit, and in 2006 Disney began trying to nail down a script.
"Jungle Cruise" took what seemed at the time like a big leap toward the screen back in 2011.
At this time, it was reported by EW that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, the duo that helped make
"Toy Story" a hit, would team up again to star in the film. That pairing ultimately fizzled,
and by 2015 Dwayne Johnson was expressing interest in the project. Johnson was dubbed
the film's official star in 2017, and by 2018 "Jungle Cruise" had begun shooting.
“Here we go.”
In 2017, with Johnson officially onboard to star in the film, "Jungle Cruise'' began to
set up the rest of its creative team — both in front of and behind the camera. Johnson,
as he has in many of his recent blockbusters, took a rather active role in the process,
because he's also serving as one of the project's producers. In the spring of 2017 the film began
searching for a director, and Johnson expressed a preference for "Wonder Woman" helmer Patty
Jenkins. Jenkins ultimately stayed at Warner Bros. to direct a "Wonder Woman" sequel,
and by the summer of 2017 Jaume Collet-Serra was revealed as the director after passing on the
opportunity to direct a "Suicide Squad" sequel. That "Suicide Squad" film eventually went to
James Gunn of "Guardians of the Galaxy" fame, so everyone pretty much ended up where they belonged.
Though "Jungle Cruise" is being positioned by Disney as a crowd-pleasing action adventure flick,
the film began generating controversy well before its release. In August of 2018,
Jack Whitehall announced via Instagram that he'd been cast in the film. It was later revealed
that he'd be playing the brother of Emily Blunt's character. That same month, a report surfaced from
U.K. tabloid The Sun which revealed Whitehall's character would be among the first major openly
gay characters in a Disney production. Describing his character, the report said,
“[His character is] one who is hugely effete, very camp and very funny."
The report quickly generated controversy, not because Disney would feature an openly
gay character in the film, but because of how the character would reportedly be portrayed.
Many social media users worried that Disney was simply leaning back on tired gay stereotypes
for its first major gay character. Others were concerned about who would play the role. That
Whitehall, a straight man, would be playing such a potentially groundbreaking role for Disney,
instead of a gay actor, was also a point of contention.
Disney has not officially responded to the controversy, but Whitehall has also gained
defenders since the outrage. We'll just have to wait until July 30 to see how it all pans out.
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