More than 20 years after the original, Robin Williams-led Jumanji was released, Sony delivered the sequel/quasi-reboot Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, with the main action this time around taking place inside the game rather than the game itself causing trouble in the real world. In addition to being met with positive reception, Welcome to the Jungle ended up being a surprise box office smash, and this is despite the fact that it came out only five days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which ended up being 2017's highest-grossing movie. With Jumanji 3 being given the green light, there had been discussion about if the threequel might directly go head-to-head with Star Wars: Episode IX next year, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a.k.a. Smolder Gravestone, has revealed that Jumanji 3 will instead open a week ahead of the next Star Wars movie.
Jumanji 3 had already been confirmed back in April to open in December 2019, but taking to his Instagram page, Dwayne Johnson announced that the movie will drop on December 13, 2019. This gives Jumanji 3 a week to draw in as many moviegoers as possible before Episode IX becomes the new talk of the town. However, don't think this means that Jumanji 3 won't have any competition during its opening weekend. Granted, the only other movie coming out during that period is an untitled Blumhouse film, but you can bet that a few others will be dropped that weekend, too. Wonder Woman 1984 was also originally supposed to come out on December 13, 2019, but it was later moved to November 1 of the same year.
With its budget somewhere between $90 million to $110 million, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ended up making over $961 million worldwide, making if the fifth highest-grossing movie on 2017. With a box office performance like that, it makes sense that Sony decided to keep Jumanji 3 in December. And honestly, part of me would have liked to have seen what a direct Jumanji 3 v Star Wars: Episode IX clash would have looked like, but I also can't blame Sony for being cautious. Jumanji 3 now has a little breathing room to make an impression in theaters, and if it's anything like Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji 3 will probably still attract decently-sized audiences during the Christmas season even after Episode IX is released.
No plot details for Jumanji 3 have come out yet, but Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan will all be back for the threequel, as will director Jake Kasdan. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates about Jumanji 3's development, and in the meantime, you can find out what movies are hitting theaters sooner by looking through our 2018 release schedule.
