US — Ars Technica

Buckle up for more body-swapping hijinks in Jumanji: Open World trailer

DevicesOctober 29, 20261 min read

A new trailer has been released for Jumanji: Open World, the third film in the Jumanji action-comedy series. The movie opens on Christmas Day and brings the story out of the video game and into the real world.

New trailer, new twist

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for Jumanji: Open World. It is directed by Jake Kasdan and is a sequel to Jumanji: The Next Level from 2019. The trailer shows the usual silly comedy, with a twist that connects to the very first Jumanji movie from 1995. In this film, the game's magic breaks out of the game console and causes chaos in the real world.

Key facts

Release date: Christmas Day, one week after the mid-December releases of Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) earned over $960 million at the global box office.
The 2019 sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, was also a big success.
The cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.

How the series got here

The 2017 film Welcome to the Jungle turned the old board game into a video game story. The Next Level ended with a mid-credits scene. A heater repairman visits the house of Spencer Gilpin and accidentally starts the game again. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the third movie, but work restarted in 2024. Dwayne Johnson has also said that the villain Jurgen the Brutal was controlled by a hidden real-world player.

Why it matters

The Jumanji films have been big hits, so fans and studios are watching this one closely. The story is also the final part of the trilogy, so it will show how the series ends. Because it opens during the holidays, it may draw family audiences who want a fun film after the heavier blockbusters.

What to watch for

How well the film does at the box office over the holiday season.
Whether the story answers the mystery of the hidden real-world player behind Jurgen the Brutal.
How the 1995 movie is connected to the new twist.

Glossary

Sony Pictures: A large movie studio that makes and releases films, including the Jumanji movies.
box office: The total money a movie earns from ticket sales in cinemas.
mid-credits scene: A short scene shown in the middle of the end credits, often to tease a future movie.
COVID-19 pandemic: A worldwide illness outbreak from 2020 that closed cinemas and stopped many film projects.
console: A video game machine that you connect to a TV to play games.

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