Jumanji: Open World releases trailer for December release

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan return to the screen for the final installment of the Jumanji trilogy, according to a trailer released by Sony Pictures on Tuesday. The film is scheduled to open in theaters on Christmas Day, positioning it as a family-friendly option during the holiday season.

The release date places the movie in a competitive window. The preceding week is expected to be dominated by the box office releases of Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three. Jumanji: Open World arrives one week after those two films have already secured their initial weekend earnings.

Jake Kasdan directs the new entry, having previously helmed the 2017 and 2019 installments. Kasdan reimagined the source material for the 2017 film, transforming the board game concept into a vintage video game setting. That film generated over $960 million in worldwide revenue, and its 2019 sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, achieved similar financial success.

The plot for Open World involves the game breaking free of its console, allowing the in-game chaos to spill into the real world. The trailer also includes a reference to the 1995 original. A lingering mystery from the 2019 film involves the character Jurgen the Brutal, played by Rory McCann. Johnson revealed in 2019 that this villain was the avatar of an unknown player in the real world, a detail that may be addressed in the new film.

Development of the third film was paused during the pandemic but resumed in 2024. The story setup was established at the end of the previous movie, where a heater repairman played by Lamorne Morris accidentally activates the game console at the home of Spencer Gilpin, played by Alex Wolff.