The original Jumanji, which came out in 1995, still stands as one of the best classic family films of all time. A young Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt and, of course, the late Robin Williams leading the craziest board game any of us have ever seen (and some of his best lines in movies) can be found here. The book-turned-movie cemented its place in Hollywood and the fictitious world came back in 2017, but sans any of the original lineup. It turns out there’s a more complicated reason why none of the main OGs have returned so far.
Jake Kasdan, director of the modern-day franchise, chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about his holiday action movie, Red One (which also stars Dwayne Johnson) as well as the wild world of Jumanji. Specifically, Kasdan shared why the likes of Dunst, Hunt and even Bradley Pierce (Peter) haven’t been approached. It’s more a storyline issue than anything else, with Kasdan saying:
We love Kirsten. She’s fantastic. From the time we did Welcome to the Jungle, we were very focused on keeping a little bit of connectivity to the original movie, which we love. We’ve always wanted to honor it and keep enough of it alive. Also, the way the original movie ends, as brilliant as it is, creates a lot of plot complications in trying to continue the story with those characters. I don’t know how well you remember it, but the world reverts back to what it was before, as though it never happened. Some of the characters are still aware of what happened, but most of them aren’t. So the kids [including Dunst’s Judy] don’t remember because it short-circuits the part where they have the adventure, but Robin [Williams] and Bonnie’s characters are aware.
This bit of information does clear up a lot for those who loved the classic Jumanji and have always wondered why that cast hadn’t been included in the new movies. Although, as the Bad Teacher director shared, they’ve always been aware of continuities they incorporated into the return, including a small cameo by an OG.
With all of the complications of the original’s ending, The Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story director is committed to weaving the worlds together. He shared that Aunt Nora, played by Bebe Neuwirth, made a cameo in The Next Level. It is heartening to see that Kasdan and crew are indeed sticking true to the story’s roots. He shared of the intentional incorporations:
So it has this complicated, clever bit of storytelling at the end that has always made the challenge of continuing their story very complicated. But, that said, within that complication, we’ve loved trying to figure out some way to do it in a way that is fun and passes some kind of fidelity to the original story. So, in Welcome to the Jungle, there are some references to Robin’s character, and then in The Next Level, we have a character [Judy’s aunt Nora, played by Bebe Neuwirth] that comes back in a way and obeys the previous story told, but in a slightly sideways way.
It’ll be exciting to see what goes down in the confirmed fourth movie, now knowing Kasdan’s full dedication to respecting and looking at the ‘95 film for inspiration and ways to work the world ever closer. I am hoping to see more vintage characters dotted throughout the new series, ideally Dunst or Hunt, but I would even take the unhinged big game hunter, Hunter Van Pelt (played by Jonathan Hyde). I’m sure whatever the nod will be this time, it’ll be done with care.
Jumanji 4 is set to release on December 11, 2026. While we don’t know much of what will be going down in this leg, we have some guesses based on what’s previously happened. I’m just glad to have a more definitive answer as to why we haven’t seen some of the stars that launched the series in the first place. Hopefully Kasdan has an even clearer path to uniting both worlds if the franchise continues beyond four installments.
You can watch the classic 1995 Jumanji on Tubi for free or with an AMC+ subscription. Or, if you’re a little scared by the OG, catch the modern-day franchise with a Hulu subscription.