Jumanji Director Addresses Why Kirsten Dunst Has Never Returned for Sequels

Director Jake Kasdan is still looking for the right way to bring Kirsten Dunst back into the Jumanji franchise. Dunst starred in the original 1996 film when she was a child star, but she recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she has never been approached about the newer movies – not even for a cameo. In his own interview with THR last week, Kasdan explained why.

“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,” the director began. “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.”

Kasdan explained how the magical ending of Jumanji seems to imply that Dunst’s character Judy does not remember any of her supernatural adventures – only Alan (Robin Williams) and Sarah (Bonnie Hunt) remember. He went on: “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.”

Kasdan pointed out that another member of the Shepherd family, Nora (Bebe Neuwirth) did make an appearance in Jumanji: The Next Level. However, Nora now owns a diner in that movie, and makes no mention of her neice Judy or her nephew Peter (Bradley Pierce).

Fans have been dying to see more stars of the original movie pop up in Kasdan’s Jumanji revival series – especially Dunst and Hunt, as many loved having strong female leads in an action-adventure movie. Hunt just worked with Kasdan on Red One, which could be a sign of a burgeoning working relationship. She plays Mrs. Claus in the Christmas-themed action movie, which hit theaters this weekend.

Kasdan is expected to direct at least one more Jumanji movie, completing the trilogy that kicked off in 2017. The movie was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the meantime Kasdan signed on to work on Red One. Just last month, Sony announced that the next Jumanji film would debut on December 11, 2026. Details including the subtitle are still under wraps.