Disney's Jungle Cruise - July 2021

[Walts Ghost]

Dwayne Johnson to Star in 'Jungle Cruise' Movie for Disney (Exclusive)

John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the duo behind the Will Smith heist movie 'Focus,' have been tapped to write the script.

Dwayne Johnson is teaming up with Disney to translate a theme park ride to the big-screen.

Johnson is attached to star in Jungle Cruise, based on the classic ride, while John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the duo behind the Will Smith heist movie Focus, have been tapped to write the script.

The duo, who have directed movies such as Focus and Stupid Crazy Love, are not attached to helm at this stage.

John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment, the banner behind Man From U.N.C.L.E, are producing.

Johnson’s involvement once again puts the Jungle boat back into the water after a multi-year dry-dock phase.

Disney has been trying to mount a movie based on the popular ride since at least 2004, during the years when the success of The Pirates of the Caribbean set sail many ride-based projects.

The studio last tried to develop the project as a starring vehicle for Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in early 2011 with writer Roger S.H. Schulman.

Jungle Cruise is one of the Disneyland’s original rides and has a retro adventure vibe, transporting parkgoers into a mélange of African settings such as the Nile River and Congo River, encountering rhinos and hippos and headhunters along the way. There’s an Amazon River section featuring piranhas.

While the Hanks-Allen iteration was to have been set in modern times, the new take brings the project back to its’ period roots with even the intent to harken Cruise to movies such as The African Queen, the 1951 classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn adventure movie that was one of the original inspirations for the ride.

Johnson is pumped to take a ride down the river: “[Disney production president] Sean Bailey and Disney have been awesome partners and now the fun part begins ... We’re starting to put in the work with Requa and Ficarra and our creative team. Fired up about this one. Here we go.”

The project is in early development and it’s unclear where it would fit into Johnson’s busy schedule. The actor is currently shooting the action comedy Central Intelligence for New Line and is reteaming with his San Andreas director Brad Peyton for New Line’s adaptation of the video game Rampage.

Also on the docket, although without any specific dates, are a new Fast & Furious movie and a Shazam! Movie.

The actor already has an anchor in Disney by being a lead voice in Moana, the animated project that emerged as one of the buzzy movies out of company's D23 Expo last weekend.

Kristin Burr is overseeing Cruise for Disney.

Johnson is repped by WME, The Garcia Companies and Gang Tyre. Requa and Ficarra, whose writing credits also include Cats & Dogs and Bad Santa, are repped by CAA and McKuin Frankel.

THR

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

THR

Sounds cool.

[chris_sc77]

Its strange how the Rock seems to have time to juggle so many projects (and a TV series!) while some stars only do like one film per year ( Will Smith, Cruise, Jim Carrey, Di Caprio, etc.)

[Michael24]

Is there anything Dwayne Johnson isn't currently involved with? Haha! I loved the idea when this was set to be a Tom Hanks/Tim Allen project. Would have been great to see them as skippers of competing services or something like that. I like Johnson, though, and making it a period film will give it that fun retro adventure vibe I like.

[Supaclyde]

Haha. Awesome! This is one of my favorite rides at Disney.

[DanTheMan]

Everything: Starring The Rock

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by dantheman89

Everything: Starring The Rock

The hardest working man in Hollywood these days. (Yes, that's a rock pun)

[Spirit Zero]

Jesus! talk about playing it safe with a bland idea. This just sounds like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, without dinosaurs.

[jamesdevil]

Finally the Rock has come back to....everything!

[walruswarrior]

The Rock is the man. Bring on more projects. San Andreas was awesome!

[bowlingbilly10]

I'm surprised they haven't put the rock in a marvel movie by now.

[levcore]

Sounds cool, i love adventure movies.

[dgoswald]

I think I must have dyslexia, because I kept reading the thread title as, "The Jungle Book" and i was wondering if Johnson was playing a live-action Balloo

[Dalekbuster523Bluray]

I doubt Disney will ever be able to replicate the success of Pirates of the Caribbean with more movies based on theme park rides, even with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Pirates of the Caribbean was a one-off and its success is more down to Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

For a theme park ride movie to be as successful as Pirates of the Caribbean, I think you're going to need a character actor comparable to Johnny Depp who can deliver a hint of eccentricity to pull it off.

[Darth Marcus]

Source: Variety

Dwayne Johnson's 'Jungle Cruise' Is a Go at Disney (Exclusive)
APRIL 07, 2017 5:30am PT by Borys Kit

The Rock will star and also produce the adventure project with Dany Garcia, the co-CEO of the duo’s Seven Bucks Entertainment banner.

Welcome to the jungle, Dwayne Johnson.

The actor has closed a deal to star in Jungle Cruise, Disney’s live-action adaptation of its iconic theme park ride. Johnson has found room in his busy schedule, slotting the movie in for a spring 2018 start of production.

Johnson will also produce the adventure project with Dany Garcia, the co-CEO of the duo’s Seven Bucks Entertainment banner and who counts Baywatch, Ballers and the Jumanji re-imagining among her credits for 2017.

Beau Flynn, Johnson’s frequent collaborator who has worked with the actor on movies such as San Andreas, is also in negotiations to produce via his Flynn Picture Co. shingle.

Jungle Cruise is one of the Disneyland’s original rides and takes park-goers on a journey through a range of leafy settings such as Africa’s Nile and Congo rivers as well as South America’s Amazon.

Cruise has had Johnson attached since 2015, but the project was still in deep development and went through several drafts by several writers (J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay wrote the most recent draft) while Johnson filmed movies such as Central Intelligence and Sony's Jumanji re-imagining. With the script looking more solid, Johnson was ready to slot it into his schedule.

The actor begins shooting Rampage, New Line’s creature feature video game adaptation, later this spring. His high-rise adventure movie Skyscraper will shoot in China in late summer and fall. After a short breather, and with Jumanji opening in December, Cruise will be next on the docket. All will fly the Seven Bucks flag.

A search for a director who can navigate the crocodile-infested waters is now underway.

John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment are also producing.

Johnson is repped by WME, the Garcias Company and Gang Tyre.

[esteban²]

Journey 2, The Rundown (aka Welcome to the Jungle), Jumanji : Welcome to the Jungle, The Jungle Cruise, ... Enough already!

[Buscemi]

This is one of those "I'll believe it when I see it" projects. Jon Favreau was attached to direct for years until he pulled out to do The Jungle Book. Plus, Johnson's busy schedule could get it delayed for a while.

[Chaotic]

The Rock sure loves the jungle.

[Michael24]

Wow. Man, Dwayne Johnson has gotta be one of the hardest-working guys in Hollywood right now. Seems like he just keeps rolling from one movie to the next, plus he's got a TV series on HBO, too.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Next thing you know, The Rock will star in a porno.