Is Dwayne Johnson’s Jumanji 4 Happening? Here’s The Latest From Kevin Hart
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have appeared in more than a few movies together, but the most successful without question have been the Jumanji films. The franchise was rebooted with the incredibly successful Welcome to the Jungle in 2017, which was followed by a solid sequel in 2019. That second film certainly strongly indicated that a third Jumanji was a real possibility, and Kevin Hart says another movie is a topic of conversation between himself and The Rock.
Speaking with Variety at the Oscars Kevin Hart was asked about what his next team-up with Dwayne Johnson would be. Hart said that the on-screen duo has been talking about what’s next. They apparently want to put together something big, and one of their big ideas is a fourth Jumanji movie (their third together). Hart explained…
We’re going to have to do it soon. I talked to [Dwayne Johnson] the day before yesterday. Right now, we got the ball rolling on some big ideas. We’re talking, of course, about another Jumanji, that’s been a conversation.
The end of Jumanji: The Next Level had all the kids making it back to the real world safely, but in the final moments the Jumanji game was activated again. Only this time, rather than seeing characters pulled inside the game, we saw animals from the world of Jumanji in the “real” world, calling back to the plot of the original film in the series starring Robin Williams.
It was an interesting tease that, if nothing else, set up a third Jumanji movie in this series, to be something more than simply the same thing over again. Of course, then a small thing called the global pandemic happened and if there were any plans to jump right into a new Jumanji movie, that didn’t happen.
But Kevin Hart says that another Jumanji is just one topic among several that the two are discussing as a new project for the two of them. They've done a few other projects together including the action-comedy Central Intelligence. Hart also appeared in a small role in the Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, which was supposed to get a sequel, but it is apparently not being actively pursued currently. Starting an entirely new franchise together is apparently another possibility according to Hart. Needless to say, if Johnson and Hart started a new franchise then it would likely prevent a third Jumanji from ever happening since their attention would be elsewhere.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens. What does seem clear is that these conversations between Hart and Johnson are very early, so even if the decision is made to move forward on a new Jumanji, it will probably be a few more years before we actually see it. Based on the success that Welcome to the Jungle had so long after the original Jumanji, even if this next film takes a while, there will likely be an audience for it.