By the standards of the COVID-19 era, Disney’s Jungle Cruise can be deemed a success after topping the box office with $34 million, bringing in an extra $30 million from Premier Access sales and scoring just under $28 million from overseas. Not phenomenal numbers to be fair, but hardly disastrous.
While the story wraps itself up neatly and doesn’t end on the sequel-baiting note that blights many modern blockbusters, it’s clear in both design and execution that the Mouse House have hopes for Jungle Cruise to fill the void for family friendly fantasy adventures left wide open until either one of those two Pirates of the Caribbean spinoffs get around to happening.
The good news for fans is that Dwayne Johnson isn’t wasting any time putting plans in place, after revealing in a social media exchange with a fan that he’s meeting Disney this coming weekend to discuss a game plan for potential sequels, as you can see below.
Not to put a dampener on things, but we should point out that a Dwayne Johnson movie having a follow up announced is an altogether different proposition from it actually making it to theaters. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, San Andreas, Rampage and Baywatch were all the subject of sequel talks before eventually fading into the ether of development hell, and you’d have to imagine the cumulative box office and Disney Plus revenue will be the deciding factor when it comes to a Jungle Cruise 2.
The Rock has DC League of Super-Pets, Amazon festive action comedy Red One, another Jumanji and perhaps Hobbs & Shaw 2 all lined up as well, so scheduling will be just as key as the financial returns.
