The first Jumanji film brought the world of Jumanji to life through a board game, while its sequel Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sucked the players into the video game itself. Director Jake Kasdan, who will be reprising his directorial role for Jumanji 3, claims that the third film in the franchise will connect with both of the previous movies in some way or the other.

During an interview with Slashfilm at the ABC party for the Television Critics Association to support Speechless and Fresh Off the Boat, Kasdan offered some new update about Jumanji 3. He revealed that the third installment will preserve the continuity, throwing references back to the first movie as well.

“Our hope is to keep a long continuity through the whole thing, even though the story that we’re telling in the second movie, the movie that we’re working on right now is much more connected to the first movie that I made a year ago than it is to the original,” the Jumanji 3 director said. “We love the idea of keeping all of this together and connected in some way or another.”

When asked if the same kids who appeared in the second movie will be seen playing a new game of Jumanji in the third installment, Kasdan replied, “We’re just figuring all of that out now.”

The director also confirmed that the board game would likely remain a video game in the upcoming film.

“I believe it’ll be sort of a continuation of that idea, yeah,” Kasdan said.

The Jumanji 3 director is still eyeing for a Christmas 2019 release for the film, though he has a lot of work left to be completed including the film’s script.

“We’re going for it,” Kasdan said. “We’ll have a better idea in a few months.”

Jumanji 3 is expected to begin filming sometime early next year with actors Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black reprising their roles.

The film is currently scheduled to hit theatres on December 13, 2019.

Source: Slashfilm