Recently, some rumors have popped up that MTV Movie Awards co-hosts Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart were circling lead roles in a "Jumanji" remake. At the time, many brushed it off as mere speculation that didn't fit with the original structure at all.
Well, it turns out there was something more to these rumors.
Johnson himself took to Instagram to confirm his involvement in the reboot and let fans know that work on the project has already begun.
"It's OFFICIAL: Love this script!" Johnson wrote on the photo-sharing app. "[To] have the opportunity to tell their stories in dope new ways to a whole new generation is truly an honor...We'll produce and deliver to a whole new generation a title that I love and is one of my all time favs: There's games you play for fun...then there's games that change your life. JUMANJI."
Johnson, whose 2015 disaster pic "San Andreas" was a huge hit at the box office, said in the post that he's currently touching up the script for the movie with the help of the company he founded, Seven Bucks Productions. Johnson also revealed that the new "Jumanji" will begin filming this fall. Jake Kasdan ("Sex Tape," "Bad Teacher") will be in the director's chair, and Matt Tolmach ("The Amazing Spider-Man") will be producing.
But "Jumanji" isn't the only remake/adaptation that Johnson is working on. He's currently well into filming on a "Baywatch" movie, starring Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra and none other than Pamela Anderson herself. Johnson will also appear in an adaptation of "Rampage," a series of popular video games that is receiving the big screen treatment.
Johnson is currently filming the second season of HBO's "Ballers."
The original "Jumanji," starring Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Bonnie Hunt, grossed almost $300 million at the worldwide box office in 1995. Sony has scheduled the remake for a July 28, 2017 release.
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
