Entertainment Weekly has shared new information that the world’s first Jumanji attraction, Jumanji-The Adventure, will be coming to Italy’s Gardaland amusement park in 2022. Based on the films from Sony Pictures, the Jumanji theme park ride will “transport guests into the world of the movies, where an indoor journey full of pitfalls, surprises, and dangers through the wild jungle awaits.”
The Jumanji franchise is based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg where. The 1995 film starring Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and Kirsten Dunst was a box office success and remains popular with many who grew up with it. In 2017, the franchise received a big-budget reboot/sequel in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. This time, the board game evolved into a video game and sucked in anyone who pressed play. These films star Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black. The reboot was a massive box office success and even spawned a sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level. The franchise overall has grossed $2.1 billion.
The Jumanji ride will fit nicely in a park like Gardaland. Gardaland is one of the premier theme parks in Italy. The park has tons of rollercoasters and themed lands, along with a few attractions themed after movies. The park has a Kung Fu Panda rollercoaster and a 4D experience involving Wonder Woman.
“The team at Gardaland are top-notch creatives and storytellers who have designed an immersive experience that expands on the world created by the films,” said Jeffrey Godsick, executive vice president of global partnerships and brand management and head of location-based entertainment at Sony Pictures Entertainment. “Adding many new elements, fans will be transported far beyond their imagination, deep into the jungles of Jumanji.”
The concept art shared by EW shows a group of passengers in a vehicle riding through the jungle, surrounded by a snake, a hippo, and a baboon. Based on the concept art, the Jumanji ride looks somewhat similar to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland in California. The Jumanji ride doesn’t have an official release date yet but is expected in the first half of 2022.