Head to the Fastpass line, because the wait time for Disney's Jungle Cruise is going to taking longer than we thought. The Amazon-set adventure movie based on the classic Disneyland ride starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt has just been pushed back nine months from its original release date on October 10, 2019 to a prime summer date on July 24, 2020.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, fans are going to have to visit quite a few other Disney attractions before Jungle Cruise comes to theaters almost two years from now, but it's uncertain as to why the release skipped down the release calendar. The cast and crew celebrated wrapping production on the project in September, so delays on its development don't seem to be why, unless some reshoots have been decided on. Its previous October release was packed with other titles on and around its date, such as the Charlie's Angels reboot, Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, Zombieland 2 and best-selling novel adaptation The Goldfinch.
Jungle Cruise does seem to be a perfect summer release, and the film will likely benefit from this date push. It's only rivaled by two untitled projects from the Warner Bros. DCEU and Sony Animation. The coming attraction has The Shallows director Jaume Collet-Serra leading the project and stars two actors no stranger to a blockbuster. After his successful stint in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in 2017, Dwayne Johnson will play a boat captain in the 1930s. His passengers are sister and brother Emily Blunt and Jack Whitehall on a journey to find a tree believed to have healing powers.
Jungle Cruise will follow Emily Blunt's other role with Disney as Mary Poppins in a long-awaited sequel coming this December. Her character is a scientist who isn't the only seeker of the wondrous tree, as the movie also promises the adventurers will be running into wild animals and a competing German expedition. Her brother in the film will reportedly be Disney's first openly gay character at a time when LGBT rights were basically non-existent. The studio's decision to cast a straight actor for the role has been met with some backlash from the community.
Jungle Cruise follows a string of Disney films based on their classic ride attractions over the years, Pirates of the Caribbean being the most successful that became a highly-successful franchise for the studio. Other entries include 2002's The Country Bears, 2003's The Haunted Mansion and 2015's Tomorrowland, which haven't been able to replicate the success of Pirates and are titles Disney fans try to forget about for the most part.
While Jungle Cruise is a classic ride that has been a part of the parks' history since Disneyland's opening day in 1955, the ride isn't currently a massive favorite in the parks. Jungle Cruise could either make way for the ride to see a new life or could prove that Pirates was a one-hit wonder for ride attraction movies. Considering those involved, Jungle Cruise could have a big opening when it's released on July 24, 2020.
