"Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" has just passed "Spider-Man" to become Sony's biggest domestic hit ever. The sequel passed $403.71 million at the box office on Tuesday to overtake the $403.70 million made by "Spider-Man" in 2002. Adjusting for inflation puts "Ghostbusters" as Sony's biggest movie with over $653.3 million but hey, it's still a milestone.
“Given the length of Columbia Pictures’ esteemed history, this is a cool milestone,” said Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group Chairman Tom Rothman, according to The Wrap. “It’s a great credit to [director and executive producer] Jake Kasdan, all the producers, the terrific actors, and everyone at the studio who worked so hard.
It gives us a grand target to shoot for with the next one.”
Sony's domestic box office heavy-hitters
"Jumanji 2" sits with esteemed company in Sony's backlog. Spots two through four on Sony's top ten at the domestic box office are the three Tobey Maguire "Spider-Man" Movies followed by "Spider-Man: Homecoming" starring Tom Holland. The third James Bond movie with Daniel Craig, "Skyfall," ranks sixth with "The Amazing Spider-Man" staring Andrew Garfield in seventh.
The Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi classic "Men in Black" and the iconic "Ghostbusters" with Bill Murray place eighth and ninth respectively. The Will Smith superhero flick "Hancock" rounds out the top ten. Remember that gem? Adjusting for inflation puts "Ghostbusters," "Spider-Man," "Spider-Man 2," "Tootsie," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Men in Black," "The Bridge on the River Kwai," "Spider-Man 3," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "The Caine Mutiny" above "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle."
The original "Jumanji" grossed $100.4 million in 1995, which would be about $210 million today, according to Box Office Mojo.
"Jumanji 2" star Jack Black talked to The Hollywood Reporter about how the original movie and Robin Williams' character influenced the sequel.
A third movie is on the way
Since the trailer came out, it was safe to wonder if "Jumanji" would become a franchise beyond this second film. As Rothman said in the quote above, there is "the next one" on the way.
In February, Deadline reported that writers Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, who were brought on to rewrite "Welcome to the Jungle," are in talks to write the next installment that would bring back stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. Kasdan is also expected to return to direct.
"Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" is the 42nd highest-grossing movie ever with $950.8 million worldwide. The movie came out on Blu-ray on March 20.