Disney is continuing to find new ways to turn their existing creations and properties into something more, and the Jungle Cruise is going to be no exception. The historical Disney Parks’ attraction is one that will be turned into a live-action movie much in the same way that Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion have been in the past. Now, it has been revealed that star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will also help in a re-design of the famous ride.
In August of 2015, it was revealed that Dwayne Johnson would be working with Disney on a live-action film version of Jungle Cruise . The story would tell of one of the world famous skippers who set off on a cruise down the rivers of the world in search of action and adventure.
Since then, talk had died down a lot and it had almost been forgotten, but not anymore. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Jungle Cruise finally received the green light and everything is heading toward a production start date of sometime in the spring of 2018.
With the success of the Johnny Depp-starring Pirates of the Caribbean , Disney is hoping that another one of its iconic rides can bring in big bucks. Fans have been excited about the idea, but they may not be thrilled if the old-school ride gets a big makeover.
On Saturday afternoon, Johnson posted a picture on his Instagram account which featured him at the famed Disney Research and Development facilities. He was posing with plans for the original Jungle Cruise ride and talking about the history of the attraction, the new movie he still star in, and how he will work with Imagineers to “help re-engineer and re-design” the ride around the world.
Yes, there was not a lot more information given other than that, and many people may not have read it, but he did indeed say it.
Johnson said that he is going to work with Imagineers to work on the rides “in all the Disney theme parks around the world.” There are six Disney Parks’ locations, and four of them have Jungle Cruise attractions.
- Disneyland Park (California)
- Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World
- Tokyo Disneyland
- Hong Kong Disneyland
Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disneyland are the only two without a Jungle Cruise ride to call their very own.
With the Jungle Cruise not even starting production until spring of next year, there likely won’t be a theatrical release until sometime in mid-to-late 2019. It appears as if the changes to the different rides will happen before its release, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Right now, Johnson is not only working as the lead actor in the film, but also as the producer for Jungle Cruise . As reported by Cinema Blend , he is looking for a director for the movie and he’s hoping that Wonder Woman helm Patty Jenkins will want to come on board.
The changes are likely going to tie into the movie in some way or another, much in the same way that the alterations to the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions did with their movie franchise.
As soon as Jungle Cruise received the official go-ahead from Disney, Dwayne Johnson headed down to Walt Disney World and decided to take in the ride. He hopped aboard one of the boats at Magic Kingdom and made his way around the rivers of the world with the skipper and a boat full of guests.
It is really going to be quite interesting to see what changes end up being made to the Jungle Cruise attractions and just how much of a re-design will happen. The oldest version of the attraction opened at Disneyland Park way back in 1955, and while a few changes have happened here and there, they’ve never been overly drastic.
Dwayne Johnson has a lot on his schedule, but he seems genuinely excited to be working with Disney again for the film version of Jungle Cruise . There is not a lot known about what Johnson will do in the movie or how it will all come together, but it will likely be filled with action and comedy. It’s going to be interesting, though, to see how fans take it when changes begin happening in the “re-design” of the famous attraction in the worldwide Disney Parks .
[Featured Image by Disney]