Three years ago, Sony Pictures announced it was remaking the 1995 film Jumanji. The studio has finally announced the official release date for the movie, which will hit theaters on Christmas Day next year (December 25, 2016). Jumanji is based on a novel of the same name, and it chronicles the journey of a young boy who becomes trapped in a Jumanji game. The original film starred the late Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, and Bonnie Hunt. The Joe Johnston-directed movie was a box office smash and grossed over $260 million worldwide. While it may be a tough task to recreate one of the highest-grossing films of 1995, Sony Pictures is taking a chance on bringing the magic back to the big screen.
When the reports of the Jumanji remake made its rounds on Internet, fans were outraged by the news. The main reason for the outrage is based on the fact that the film will be made without the legendary Robin Williams. “The original is a classic and it would not be the same without Robin Williams,” a woman named Jamie Dilley stated on Twitter. Williams died on August 11, 2014, after years of battling depression. Fans on social media believe remaking Jumanji is distasteful and insulting. Hollywood has a habit of “rebooting” movies of the past, and those films are rarely successful. “Are the writers in Hollywood so dense they can’t come up with new material?” Beth Outlander asked on Twitter in regards to the Jumanji remake. The cast for the Jumanji remake has not been revealed. Two producers from the original film, Matthew Tolmach and William Teitler, will produce the 2016 remake.
Sony Pictures also announced the dates for several other films that will be released in 2016, including a remake of Ghostbusters (July 15th), The Magnificent Seven (September 23rd), Underworld 5 (October 21st), and Passengers (December 21st). The studio also revealed the Bad Boys movie franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence will release two more films. The third film in the series will be released on February 17, 2017, and Bad Boys 4 will hit theaters on July 3, 2019. Whether or not Smith and Lawrence will co-star on the upcoming Bad Boys films has not been made public.