We’re finally connecting back with big movies first previewed in autumn 2019. That includes Jungle Cruise (first previewed here), which looks like a take on Hepburn and Bogart’s African Queen, and a great set-up for a Disney franchise follow-up to its long-running Pirates of the Caribbean. Eighteen months later and the second trailer is here. The theme park ride turned big-screen adventure could hardly look more fun (except for some iffy CGI effects sequences). Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Mary Poppins Returns) seems to have walked right into a role written for Johnny Depp, as she teeters through a clever Rube Goldberg-inspired scene as Lily Houghton, a scientist embarking on a journey with her brother in the Amazon, via riverboat, where they meet an unusual ship captain. It also feels a bit like the big adventure hit The Mummy, with Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser. With Hollywood’s #1 box office draw Dwayne Johnson still entertaining us with his Jumanji jungle series and international tours in the Fast & Furious movies, there’s hardly a better person to cast with Blunt in this kind of new team-up. Check out the new trailer (and updated poster) below for Jungle Cruise.
Here Johnson looks a lot more like Popeye than Humphrey Bogart. Johnson has referred to Blunt’s character as “a female Indiana Jones.” For most of the world–who haven’t ever been to a Disney theme park–it may help to know the movie Jungle Cruise is based on a theme park ride like Pirates of the Caribbean. As much as the latter began as what seemed like a Disney attempt to make some more money off its theme park intellectual property in a new venue, the Pirates films ultimately were a big hit with audiences and a treasure trove for Disney. Will Jungle Cruise find Disney’s next pot of gold?
The great Paul Giamatti (Lodge 49, American Splendor, Paycheck) co-stars with Black Mirror’s Jesse Plemons, with a rousing score by composer James Newton Howard (Dave, Waterworld, The Postman, The Sixth Sense, The Dark Knight, Snow White and the Huntsman). Here is the new trailer:
Another pandemic delay, originally slated for July 24, 2020, Jungle Cruise is now scheduled for release July 30, 2021, in theaters and as part of premium Disney+ streaming.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
