Hollywood's been flirting with a Jumanji reboot for a while now, but the death of Robin Williams (who starred in the 1995 version) and the right script delayed the project till not long ago. Now it has a big summer release date of July 28, 2017, not to mention a cast that currently features Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black.
Johnson and Hart are also starring together in Central Intelligence, due out June 17, marking the first time the megaduo has starred opposite one another. And with Jumanji now gearing up, it won't be the last. In fact, when Fandango sat down with Johnson and Hart to talk about their new movie, Johnson teased the potential of his pairing with Hart by mentioning another classic on-screen comedic duo.
"Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are our heroes, and you know you just wanted to see those two together," Johnson says. "Not to ever be them, but [Kevin Hart and I] had an opportunity to be where, man, if this clicks with us, we had a shot where people would want to see us two together at whatever it is we do. So we lucked out with Central Intelligence and now also with Jumanji."
We asked the two about their take on Jumanji, which Johnson recently teased would honor Robin Williams in some way. In terms of the kind of movie they're aiming for, Hart turned to one film that's currently still in theaters.
"Oh, get ready!" Johnson teases. "We've got some real good tricks up our sleeves," adds Kevin Hart. "First of all, rest in peace to Robin Williams, who did an amazing job with the original Jumanji. You're never going to redo what he did -- that movie was epic. What we want to do is take that premise and that movie and make it very unique for our generation, and add some more elements into it. Think about recent movies like The Jungle Book," Hart says.
When we asked whether the two would be playing motion-captured characters, Hart says, "We don't want to give too much away, but we are going to amplify it. We're going to throw a lot of bells and whistles at it to make it stand out -- and the biggest bells and whistles are Dwayne and myself. It's gonna be good."
"And we've got Jack Black too," Johnson adds. "The original was three big roles and in this one there's gonna be five. And I think we have a really cool and smart take on it that's extremely entertaining."
As far as honoring Williams, Johnson completely understands the polarizing response from fans and promises Robin's character will still be a part of the movie in a very special way.
"And with Robin [Williams], I get it. That's a big polarizing thing when you make an announcement about Jumanji, so it's important for fans to know that Robin's character is immortalized and untouched," Johnson says. "And without giving anything away, there's a cool way that we're going to honor that. I think his family's really gonna like it and be proud."
Jumanji hits theaters on July 28, 2017. Stay tuned for more with Johnson and Hart as we inch closer to the June 17 release of Central Intelligence.