Jumanji: The Next Level is out in theaters right now, and Rotten Tomatoes has dropped a trailer for the action-comedy. On the critics’ side of things, the film is sitting at 67% freshness right now. The film mostly relies on the prior familiarity with the last helping of Jumanji that viewers received and that could explain that middling number. But, on the audience side of things, people are enjoying this movie a lot. The audience score sits at a very solid 87% with over 400 ratings. This was likely going to be the case for the movie as people who saw the first one and enjoyed themselves get to revisit that world with a couple of tweaks. Great turns by Kevin Hart, The Rock, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan all certainly have something to do with that audience score as well. It is no small wonder to see a 90s nostalgia property like Jumanji take off like this on the cusp of 2020, but give the filmmakers a lot of credit for understanding what works and giving the people what they want.
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Another week will bring Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker into theaters as direct competition for Jumanji. Now, Star Wars will always present a bit of a challenge for any movie that premieres in December. But, it looks as though The Next Level is on pace to win this weekend and possibly eclipse Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as well.
Tracking numbers from The Hollywood Reporter indicate that Jumanji: The Next Level could be in for an opening weekend within the range of $40-$50 million. Sony might be playing it a bit more close to the vest with their in-house projections as they forecast a $35 million on the horizon.
That would make Jumanji‘s opening weekend just under the $36 million that the previous movie earned back in 2017. But, if THR’s numbers are to be believed, that would mean that it absolutely shattered that number. But, a difficult road lies ahead as the giant Star Wars release and reception will likely hold the key to this movie’s success. But, as far as right now is concerned, the Dwayne Johnson vehicle has a ton to be proud of with respect to that Rotten Tomatoes score. Pleasing audiences and leaning hard on those stars will pay dividends. There’s already even some talk about another trip through the mystical game console for round three at some point in the future.
Jumanji: The Next Level is now in theaters.
