Columbia Pictures' Jumanji remake is still happening, and the studio has just hired a director.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake Kasdan has been hired to direct Jumanji. Kasdan, son of Empire Strikes Back screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, is known for comedies like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Bad Teacher and Sex Tape. He has also worked in television, directing episodes of New Girl, Fresh off the Boat and The Grinder.
It might seem like sacrilege to remake Jumanji after the death of Robin Williams, but the studio is pitching this more as another adaptation of the book rather than of the original film. It's described as a "new take" on the source material. Ted Field, producer of the 1995 Jumanji, is on board to produce along with author Van Allsburg.
The screenplay for Jumanji was written by Scott Rosenberg (Con Air) and Jeff Pinkner (Lost). The project was first confirmed in August 2015.
No cast has been unveiled yet, though that definitely needs to happen soon considering Columbia has set a release date of Dec. 25, 2016. With a director just coming on board in January, will it still even be possible to meet that goal?
And more importantly, will audiences be interested in a Jumanji remake at all? Back when the project was announced, reactions were not very positive to say the least, so Kasdan has a lot of negativity to overcome.
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