Jungle Cruise: The Movie

Le Saboteur

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
I'm still leaning towards a South American location, but the more I think about it, the more I like an Asian setting.

I was doing some unrelated reading -- okay, not entirely unrelated -- that led me to thinking about Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest. Why? Read on.

expedition-everest-gallery00.jpg


Following the astounding success (it's going to top out @ nearly $900-million at the box office) of Sony's Jumanji resurrection, let's assume audiences have a hankering for a quality adventure movie. Disney aims to fill that desire with a flick at least heavily inspired by The World Famous Jungle Cruise. With all the talent involved on both sides of the camera, I have a hard time seeing it being anything other than a success unless, of course, the final product manages to be an absolute turd.

Success at the box office means an immediate sequel in today's climate, but how expansive is the jungle cruise motif? Can a potential sequel trek up the Himalaya and encounter the yeti? Ten major rivers originate on the Tibetan plateau including the Meghna, the Brahmaputra, and the Eternal Ganga. They pass through a variety of ecosystems -- Himalayan terai, the Indo-Gangetic plain, subtropical forests, etc.

A case could be made I would argue, but 'jungle' in it's common usage is synonymous with rain forest. While jangal, the Hindi it's derived from, basically meant wilderness.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
curmudgeon said:
To add fuel to the South America v. Africa speculation, it appears that set construction is already underway in Hawaii.


Hmm...

Has Hawaii ever doubled for Africa? You can do a lot in this Miracles Are Cheap era of movie making, but I can't think of any movies where it has acted as a stand-in. Doesn't mean they don't exist though. If Hawaii was to stand-in for Africa, however, they would be almost completely confined to the upper reaches of the Congo River Basin -- Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.


Hmm... is right.

Unfortunately the boats in that other tweet aren't helpful at deducing a potential location either, but I'm still leaning towards South America or Asia. Right now I'm thinking Asia is a more likely candidate.

Another wrinkle: Disney could do a completely fictional country a la Anandapur in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
 

curmudgeon

Well-known member
Le Saboteur said:
Has Hawaii ever doubled for Africa? You can do a lot in this Miracles Are Cheap era of movie making, but I can't think of any movies where it has acted as a stand-in.

After a casual search on Wikipedia for movies shot in Hawaii, it looks like it has a few times.

"George of the Jungle," "Tears of the Sun," and possibly parts of "Outbreak" and the 90's remake of "Mighty Joe Young."

I can't vouch for how well it translated, however. Most of those movies are distant memories to me at this point.
 

TheFedora

Active member
New Details about Jungle Cruise have been revealed via 'That Hashtag show'.


http://thathashtagshow.com/2018/02/...haracter-breakdowns-reveal-supernatural-plot/

some character breakdowns which have plot device including the macguffin being searched for...:
Frank (Francisco)
A witty riverboat captain cursed with immortality who takes Lily Houghton down the river.

Lily Houghton
Spunky scientist in search of the Tree of Life. Her quest is inspired in part by the death of her brother which was caused by an infectious disease.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Pale Horse said:
Great?@!!

There goes my Indy idea.

I don't buy it. Preternatural elements? Sure. But my first thought was 'Are they trying to make this into a Pirates-esque outing?' Seems counter intuitive. An immortal skip makes this just about as inconsequential as Jumanji is.

I could certainly see elements of this in the final script, but I can't shake the suspicion that they got their hands on a draft of some sort. If that.

The Tree of Life is a dumb macguffin then, now, and forever.

Shouldn't Frank want to go, like, up river? Y'know, where all the really cool 'ish is hidden? It'd be an awfully short movie if said macguffin was on the coast the whole time.
 

curmudgeon

Well-known member
Edgar Ramirez joining the cast as a villain "with a conquistador background."

In addition, Jack Whitehall has been cast as the brother to Emily Blunt's character. I don't know if that confirms the casting breakdown or not.

The article also mentions... (drumroll, please) ...an Amazon setting for the film!
 

roundshort

Active member
I wonder if this movie is a success if Disney will lock the Rock down to a mega multi-movie deal like Marvel did with Samuel Jackson?
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
roundshort said:
I wonder if this movie is a success if Disney will lock the Rock down to a mega multi-movie deal like Marvel did with Samuel Jackson?


Only if he looks like a bitch
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
roundshort said:
I wonder if this movie is a success if Disney will lock the Rock down to a mega multi-movie deal like Marvel did with Samuel Jackson?

The only problem with that line of thinking is Sam Jackson hasn't fronted any of those Disney-branded pictures. He's appeared in all of them to varying degrees, but not starred. The Rock will want A-list money and starring roles, and I'm not convinced Disney will want to invest that kind of capital. Multiple Jungle Cruise pictures? Sure, but not the kind of first look deal The Rock may think he's owed.

curmudgeon said:
Edgar Ramirez joining the cast as a villain "with a conquistador background."

Interesting. I saw him most recently in Gold with Mathew McConnaughey and he certainly looked the part, so I'll be curious to see what this "conquistador background" means exactly. The fact that my thought's immediately go to Treasure Island's Ben Gunn doesn't strike me with confidence.

curmudgeon said:
In addition, Jack Whitehall has been cast as the brother to Emily Blunt's character. I don't know if that confirms the casting breakdown or not.

The article seems to indicate that The Rock is related to Emily Blunt's character as well. Though, that's probably a bad job by the editor. Assuming they even have editors.

I hadn't heard of Jack Whitehall until recently, but that Travels With My Father series he did for Netflix was rather amusing. Fingers crossed that he isn't a spiritual successor to John Hannah in The Mummy.

The Hollywood Reporter announced the addition of Jesse Plemmons to the cast a couple of days ago. If he heads the German addition then that announcement probably rounds out the principle cast. If he's just a flunkie, there might be another casting announcement; otherwise, all that's left to fill are supporting roles.

We'll see!

curmudgeon said:
The article also mentions... (drumroll, please) ...an Amazon setting for the film!

I don't think I've ever been this disappointed at being right!
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Reel News Hawaii

The kind folks over at Reel News Hawaii have provided a slightly closer look at the massive set Disney has constructed for the flick. If you zoom in on the building with the arcade it looks very much like the bazaar in Disneyland's Adventureland. Not sure if that enclosed courtyard is attached via staircase or not from this angle.

DcIBNU2V4AEPWcp.jpg:large


Pale Horse said:
Clever, very clever. With Paul it could go either way.

Wrong continent, but perhaps more importantly -- too posh, too clean. I don't know why, but I immediately went to his character in The Illusionist with the pipe and beard, but crossed with, say, Dutchy from Only Angels Have Wings.

10995_5.jpg


Above as he is below.

image3.jpeg
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Jake Morrison said:
"I mean I've got to say, I'm incredibly excited about the whole thing, it's really like Dwayne is in a new Indiana Jones film. It's Dwayne at his best, and that is a man with some severe charisma. And then we're putting him on this huge adventure, and they've just literally announced the female lead in the picture is Emily Blunt. So, we're really excited. We start principal photography ... well I'll probably blink and we'll be doing principal photography, but we are in prep right now. And that's going to be a very fun film."

Full article: Jungle Cruise is Like Dwayne Johnson Is In An Indiana Jones Film

But more importantly, we appear to have an official date when principal photography will begin: 21 May 2018. Filming was supposed to begin on the 14th, but there's been a spate of rain that has held things up. I for one am looking forward to the first images they invariably release from the set.

Why is he signing what looks to be four(!) separate contracts? That seems like an absurdly large contract.

 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Very cool -- thanks for posting, I would not have seen that otherwise.

I liked how genuine Johnson is in the clip, the pledge to make a movie that doesn't suck -- and especially the shout out to Walt Disney.

As for the contracts, my guess is two originals for him and two for Disney (with one of Johnson's originals going to his agent and the other to his lawyer)(and one of Disney's copies going to their records retention vault and maybe the other going to outside counsel if they used outside counsel to help negotiate the deal, and if not both to the vault).

As for the length, I assume its a multi-picture deal and I assume he got some producer's rights -- so I assume there are actually a small bundle of agreements in each stack of documents. And I'm sure a lot of the pages are schedules with details on the deal. (half-jokingly) Based on the protein and stuff on the shelves in the background, I wouldn't be surprised if he has very particular demands about what he wants on set and details about his expectations about filming (I'm thinking of this issues with Vin on the Fast and Furious shoots).

I'm surprised the contracts are paper with wet signatures. Most of Corporate America has gone (or is going) to DocuSign (along with the mortgage industry), except in countries where you need a chop (China) or a power of attorney (like Mexico).
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Joe Brody said:
Very cool -- thanks for posting, I would not have seen that otherwise.

:hat:

Joe Brody said:
As for the length, I assume its a multi-picture deal and I assume he got some producer's rights -- so I assume there are actually a small bundle of agreements in each stack of documents.

Producer's rights would be interesting. I do know that he has some sort of advertising deal. Something somewhere said he got around three-million bucks to promote his flicks through his social media accounts.

Quickly:

DdZ9RXzWkAAkasS.jpg


Swiped from Twitter. This building is being billed as the "hotel", and appears to be the biggest set Disney has constructed at the Kapaia Reservoir on Kauai. It reminds me of the bazaar in the original Adventureland with a touch of the town on Pirates of the Caribbean. An open casting call went out in March looking for "characters", fishermen/women, basket weavers, dock workers, restaurant workers, show owners, craftsmen/women, international travelers and villager types.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Fantastic picture.

Given the size, scale and depth of the set, I wonder it this means the films will be shot with Imax and/or other large format cameras (65mm & 70mm). If so, that would be incredible and, for me, a very good indicator that the film will be special.

[In the lower left, I wonder if that is a floating diving -- or in this case a floating filming -- platform?]
 

curmudgeon

Well-known member
Your ticket to ride is reserved for...

October 11th, 2019.

Disney announced it in the same blast that delayed Indy 5 to 2021. (And to think, I was almost worried about how putting these two films within a year of each other would affect their receptions.)
 
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