There was a 22-year gap between the release of the original Jumanji back in 1995 and 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Fans of the series and the latest incarnation, count yourselves lucky: The next wait won’t be anywhere near as long.

Updating the board game formula of the first film into a more modern videogame format for the followup, there is little doubt that the next film will approach similarly modern sensibilities. At this point plot, details are sparse, which is pretty much expected given how early on in production the movie is. What we do know is that Kevin Hart, one of the principal stars, has confirmed the film is already shooting, having started in January of 2019, and, even better, all the cast from last time around seem happy to reprise their parts.

“London December 22 2017 (16) Jumanji” (CC BY 2.0) by David Holt London

We might be a bit biased, as we love the combination of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart as much as anyone, but this coupling alone is enough to convince us this will be worth checking out. Even better, this works as a fantastic film for family viewing, as I’m sure many of our readers out there would be far happier to watch a new Jumanji film than anything along the lines of Bieber-based entertainment.

What actually interests us as much as the film is what this could mean for the franchise itself. Jumanji itself had a few games, including an interesting but in no way actually magical board game, released back after the original film. Today though, with the newer ones being based around video games, the potential reaches much further than that.

We already have officially licensed online slots based on the IP with the Mr Green App, as well as Funko Pops (though what doesn’t these days), so where else could we see the franchise heading in the future? The most obvious answer is a more traditional video game, but if they really want to build this series into something huge then they’re going to have to do more than that. Posters and toys are a pretty safe choice, and god knows they made enough money for other series to keep people like George Lucas swimming in Scrooge McDuck levels of cash. 

“Jumanji Featured Image” (Public Domain) by brendarochelle

Another film seems an inevitability if this newest one does well, as building a trilogy out of profitable franchises seems almost the defacto idea these days, but we think that a TV series could also make a lot of money. Jumanji as a concept doesn’t necessarily need the big names, and the concept lends itself to a level of flexibility – which means it could be easily poised to gain a lot from different mediums.

So what do you think of this latest development in the Jumanji series? Is this going to be a must watch, something which you check out later once it comes to streamable services, or are you going to give it a miss?