Disney has been trying to make a Jungle Cruise movie for a long time now. For awhile, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were attached but that fell apart and now we have Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt taking the trip down the Amazon. Like Pirates of the Caribbean before it, Jungle Cruise will bring to life a Disney theme park ride and hopefully bring in that Disney theme park money too.
Based upon the first trailer, it seems that director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows, Orphan) is leaning into the supernatural, somewhat-spooky vibes that worked so well with the Pirates movies. There is something otherworldly going on in the Amazon.
The movie looks fun and obviously very influenced by Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone and other action-adventure buddy comedies. Johnson and Blunt have lots of charisma and personality so it’ll be great to see them shine together. It’ll also be fun to see how Disney translates the humor of the ride to the big screen. Expect lots of animal puns.
The trailer feels a bit disjointed and all over the place, like it’s trying to cram multiple movies into one preview. They’re really trying to sell just how big and fun this thing will be, mostly because Disney is hungry for another franchise. Sure, they own Marvel and Fox and have countless movies and sequels in development but they wouldn’t mind adding another to the list. This definitely feels like the beginning of what could be Disney’s next big series.
Jungle Cruise will be…cruising into theaters on July 24, 2020.
