Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Total Film
Total Film
Entertainment
Megan Garside

Jumanji 3: Release date, cast, plot speculation, and everything else we know about the upcoming adventure sequel

Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

Get ready to go back to the jungle as Jumanji 3 is heading to cinemas next year, with filming set to start any day now. Unfortunately, star Dwayne Johnson has confirmed that the upcoming movie will be the final installment in the Jumanji franchise. On the bright side, it looks like the new film will bring the series full circle and pay tribute to the late Robin Williams, star of the original 1995 Jumanji movie. But more on that later.

Six years after Jumanji: The Next Level hit screens, we will soon see Johnson's Dr. Smoulder, Kevin Hart's Mouse, Jack Black's Prof. Shelley, and Karen Gillan's Roundhouse Ruby reunite, ready for a new adventure. Although plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, we do have our theories on where the sequel might go and how the franchise might end. Plus, the film's stars have been quite vocal online, giving us plenty of teases to play with.

Below, we've put together the ultimate guide on Jumanji 3 release date, cast list, plot details, trailers, and more. While you wait for an official title to be confirmed and more details to be revealed, check out our list of other upcoming movies to look out for in 2025 and beyond.

Jumanji 3 release date

(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Jumanji 3 will release in theaters on December 11, 2026.

The date was confirmed in 2024 by Sony Pictures. The festive release is no new thing for the franchise, as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level were both released during the month of December.

The road to release has not been easy for the third movie in the franchise. Before the team could start working on the film, production on Jumanji 3 was stunted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Director Jake Kasdan told Collider, "We were just getting into the conversation before this global calamity."

Work then seemed to resume in 2021 when producer Hiram Garcia told ComicBook that the team had "a really fun pitch" for the movie. However, it was radio silence until 2024 when Sony not only confirmed that the movie was still happening, but locked in a Christmas-time release date.

In November 2025, the official Jumanji Twitter account confirmed that the film had entered production in Los Angeles, where it will be filmed. This means that the threequel is going to take an extra couple of months to make compared to The Next Level, which took 11 months to complete from its filming start date to its premiere. Could this mean that Jumanji 3 is going to be even bigger than its predecessors?

Is there a Jumanji 3 trailer yet?

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

No, there is no teaser or trailer video released for Jumanji 3 yet, as the movie has only just entered production. However, we can guess when it might arrive. The last Jumanji movie to hit screens, sequel Jumanji: The Next Level, started filming in January 2019, and Sony released the first trailer on July 1, 2019. So, because Jumanji 3 starts filming in November 2025, we may see the first trailer sometime during early summer 2026.

Jumanji 3 cast

(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Sony has not officially confirmed any casting details for Jumanji 3, but the movie shared a snap from the Jumanji panel in Los Angeles in November 2025, showing who is returning. The post, which you can see below, shows stars Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black. This means that the franchises’ core four in-game characters will return: Dr. Xander ‘Smolder’ Bravestone, Ruby Roundhouse, Franklin ‘Mouse’ Finbar, and Professor Sheldon ‘Shelly’ Oberon.

Thanks to the panel, we also know that the real-life versions of the characters are coming back too. That's Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, and Morgan Turner to return as Spencer Gilpin, Anthony Johnson, Bethany Walker, and Martha Kaply.

It gets a little tricky when it comes to supporting cast members. Danny DeVito played Spencer’s grandfather Edward Gilpin in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, then took on a larger role in Jumanji: The Next Level as he was the one controlling player Dr. Bravestone rather than Alex. His friend Milo Walker (Danny Glover) also joined the game and hopped into the body of Mouse. However, it is not clear at this time whether DeVito or Glover will return.

As for in-game characters, we don’t know if Nick Jonas will be making an appearance, as his character’s real-life counterpart seemed to put his Jumanji journey behind him in the last movie. However, Jumanji: The Next Level’s villain Jurgen the Brutal (Rory McCann) is still alive and well, meaning he could return.

As of now, this is who we expect to return in Jumanji 3:

  • Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander ‘Smolder’ Bravestone
  • Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse
  • Kevin Hart as Franklin ‘Mouse’ Finbar
  • Jack Black as Professor Sheldon ‘Shelly’ Oberon
  • Alex Wolff as Spencer Gilpin
  • Ser'Darius Blain as Anthony Johnson
  • Madison Iseman as Bethany Walker
  • Morgan Turner as Martha Kaply

Jumanji 3 plot speculation

(Image credit: Sony Pictures)

No plot details for Jumaji 3 have been revealed as of yet. However, we do have our theories. The Jumanji franchise is based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, which follows a group of people sucked into an enchanted board game full of wild animals and thick jungles, and experience the game like real life. Before the modern franchise came about, the book was adapted into a 1995 film of the same name starring Robin Williams.

However, despite following a similar premise, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level, and the upcoming Jumanji threequel follow a different set of characters and are in no way connected to the ‘90s movie. Or so we thought. Whilst confirming that Jumanji 3 had entered production, Dwayne Johnson posted a bunch of images on Instagram, including a close-up of the original Jumanji movie's poster and a necklace with a dice pendant.

"The significance of the dice in the last picture is a little Easter egg that my character, Dr. Smolder Bravestone, wears on a necklace in our final film," said Johnson. "It’s the dice from the original 1995 Jumanji." With the inclusion of the dice, we think the upcoming movie might finally have the characters enter the Jumanji board game rather than a video game, just like the original movie. But what about the 'Easter egg' mentioned by Johnson? Could Dr. Bravestine be connected to Williams' character Alan? We, for one, would love to see the franchise come full circle.

The one solid clue we have comes from the Jumanji: The Next Level post-credits scene, where we see animals from the game escaping into the real world. With this in mind, it is also possible that a few in-game avatars could have escaped to, including Jurgen the Brutal. With this in mind, it looks as though the third movie could mostly take place in the real world rather than having people jump into the game. Now that Jumanji has broken into reality, anything is possible.

Is Jumanji 3 the final Jumanji movie?

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Yes, unfortunately, Jumanji 3 will be the last movie in the franchise. Dwayne Johnson confirmed the news just as the film entered production. "What a massive, fun, heartfelt adventure," said the star, "Feels emotionally appropriate for our beloved Jumanji franchise to end on this beautiful grace note of our final film."

We did suspect this might be the case when Kevin Hart teased his and Dwayne Johnson’s 'final' movie together. "We’re talking about, of course, another Jumanji," said Hart to Variety. "[We're] just figuring out the thing that can act as what would or could be the final chapter of he and I. We feel we need something big to put our duo to an end and not just leave it undone like something that we can say, this is going to be our last and final movie." It looks like Jumanji 3 might be that last film for the duo.

For more, check out our list of the best fantasy movies and the biggest movie release dates.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.