Disneyland is rolling out the red carpet for another Hollywood movie premiere.
Like the park did when Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movies rolled out years ago, Disneyland will host the red carpet premiere of the "Jungle Cruise" movie on Saturday, July 24. The film opens in theaters and on Disney Plus Premier Access on July 30 and stars Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson.
Blunt plays Dr. Lily Houghton, who has traveled to the Amazon jungle in search of an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities. To get there, she hires Johnson's Frank Wolff to guide her upriver on his very iffy boat, La Quila. Along the way, we'll see how many references to the Disney theme park ride the movie throws in, including ones to scenes that no longer exist in the ride, thanks to its recent rewrite.
Disneyland this week is reopening its redesigned Jungle Cruise, which changes the second half of the attraction as described here in my review. Take a look for yourself in our new on-ride POV video.
Disney will livestream the red carpet event on Disneyland's social media channels, with a specific time yet to be announced. If you were planning to visit Disneyland on July 24, you might get a chance to see the movie's stars in person, but the event also will disrupt a whole bunch of park operations, including potentially closing some parts of the park. Check the official Disneyland app for updates.
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I wonder if they’ll have The Rock reading from a pre-approved script when he inevitably helms one of the ride boats…
I remain very surprised that Disney is releasing a Jungle Cruise movie AND opening a revamped Jungle Cruise in the same month... yet, so far, it appears they didn't incorporate any of the characters from the film into the revamped attraction a la Jack Sparrow in PotC. Perhaps they're waiting to see if the film is a hit first?
Jack Sparrow was added to the ride three years after the first movie opened. The film studios will pay for new characters in the parks to promote a new movie but not expensive animatronics. And the parks also are not going to spend money to update a ride to movie that might bomb.
From what I’ve heard from the production, the parks probably made the right decision to update the ride now and not hold out hope the movie will be a big hit.
And look, I think Disneyland very much learned its lesson from adding a real-life person to PotC. There was a time the googly-eyed Jack Sparrow at the end of the ride was a funny malfunction; now it looks just like the real-life drug addict and all-around flailer Johnny Depp. Not the best image for a family park.
Interesting that this movie takes place in the Amazon, so that means no elephants, hippos, giraffes, lions or tigers, like in the ride. Only crocodiles, snakes, bats or monkeys. Unless they somehow take a cross-global trip. In a clip, I saw the Rock make a 'backside of water' joke, and it was cringy, I hope it comes off better in the movie. Also the clip showed over-the-top action and fighting with Emily Blunt, also cringy, but seems to be necessary in today's movies.
IDK - I thought the trailers for the first POTC were super cringe-worthy, but Curse of the Black Pearl turned out to be an excellent movie that launched a $4+ billion franchise. On the other hand, Haunted Mansion and Tomorrowland didn't fair nearly as well (though I actually enjoyed the George Clooney movie), so it's difficult to tell if people will gravitate to the newest Disney theme park adaptation.
Interesting news, thanks for sharing!
I hope the studios stopped giving the Rock a ton of money to make a movie. When was the last time he had a big hit? For years, most of his movies haven't done well, yet people still think he's a big movie star.
@Still a fan - While The Rock has had a few movies that haven't quite lived up to expectations, he's about as bankable a box office star as there is in Hollywood today. His movies over the past 5 years have all made solid profits...
Jumanji: The Next Level - $800 million worldwide ($125 million budget)
Fast and Furious Presents Hobbs and Shaw - $759 million worldwide ($200 million budget)
Fighting with my Family (more of a cameo for him, though he was a producer) - $40 million worldwide ($11 million budget)
Skyscraper - $300 million worldwide ($125 million budget)
Rampage - $428 million worldwide ($120 million budget)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - $962 million worldwide ($90 million budget)
Baywatch - $177 million worldwide ($69 million budget)
Fate of the Furious - $1.24 billion worldwide ($250 million budget)
Moana - $644 million worldwide
Central Intelligence - $217 million worldwide ($50 million budget)
While a few of his movies haven't been true blockbusters, The Rock doesn't have a dud among his recent releases. Get used to him, because he has tons of projects on the horizon including the highly anticipated Black Adam (DC superhero), a sequel to the disaster film San Andreas, and a remake of the cult classic Big Trouble in Little China. Also, it's expected that either next spring in Dallas or the following year in LA, The Rock will make a return to main event Wrestlemania (was expected to do it this year, but the event was moved from LA to Tampa with limited fans). The Rock is going to be virtually everywhere over the next few years.
That's better than I thought, although some of those movies barely broke even; a movie needs to make three times its production cost before it makes a profit.
I don't dislike the guy; I liked Central Intelligence, and he was entertaining in that movie. But I don't see the Jungle Cruise as a franchise like POTC.
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I hope The Jungle Cruise movie is so good that they make it into a trilogy. The PotC/Gore Verbinski trilogy was very enjoyable. If not, there’s plenty more Marvel coming down the pike.