Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart sought for ‘Jumanji’ remake
Sony is moving very quickly to cast its Jumanji remake, seeking stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, but scheduling could make this the impossible dream for Johnson and Hart, who star in the New Line comedy Central Intelligence and hosted the MTV Movie Awards together.
Bad Teacher director Jake Kasdan will helm the project.
Their script is based on draft by original writers, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, keeping the premise of the Caldecott Medal-winning adventure book by Chris Van Allsburg.
“Tolmach has been the major driver in getting it to the start line and Bill Teitler is also producing and Ted Field and Mike Weber will be exec producers. Van Allsburg will also be executive producer,” Deadline said as the news broke of the remake.
Robin Williams headlined the 1995 film which grossed $260 million globally. That story centered on a young boy who was sucked into the board game years earlier, only to emerge later when two kids (Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce) in then-present day 1995. They played the game and freed him from the jungle in which he was trapped.
The film also starred Bonnie Hunt, David Alan Grier, Jonathan Hyde (in two roles) and Bebe Neuwirth.
Sony moved Jumanji to next summer, opening in theaters on July 28, 2017.