Can ‘Jungle Cruise’ Become Disney’s Next ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’?

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt’s adventure comedy, based on a classic Disney theme park ride, could be Walt Disney’s first new live-action franchise in a generation.

This second trailer for Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Jungle Cruise is a more serious, plot-focused affair. It’s less whimsical and comical than the teaser, which is understandable (Disney is trying to sell this as an “event” worthy of theaters) and slightly disappointing (the comparative lack of humor makes it look more generic). Nonetheless, this still looks like a genuinely good time at the movies, with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt giving off “Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy” vibes. It could be Disney’s first “new” live-action franchise since National Treasure back in 2004. As such, it’s one of Disney’s most important 2020 theatrical offerings.

As noted last week, Artemis Fowl (which looks fun, source fidelity aside), The One and Only Ivan and (especially) this adaptation of Disney’s Jungle Cruise theme park ride, are the handful of “new-to-cinema” offerings attempting to show that Disney can spin a hit live-action release outside of Marvel, Lucasfilm and their animated properties. That’s the one area where Bob Iger faltered, a relative failure which was papered over by the successes from the brands (Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm) Disney acquired during his tenure as CEO. Disney hasn’t had a “new” live-action hit since Into the Woods in 2014 and a “new” live-action franchise since National Treasure in 2004.

As noted two weeks ago, I’m especially watching how Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, plays when it opens in late July. That’s the one, thanks to star power, slight brand recognition and two solid trailers, that could easily be, relatively speaking, Disney’s next Pirates of the Caribbean. We know that Disney is aces when it comes to Lucasfilm, Marvel, animation and nostalgia-driven revamps of their animated properties. If Bob Chapek wants to have a different legacy than his predecessor, it’ll be releasing theatrical hits that don’t rely on the acquisition of already successful IP.

The first several years of Iger’s reign was personified by a relentless (and ultimately doomed) pursuit of the success of Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean. That Johnny Depp/Keira Knightley/Orlando Bloom pirate trilogy ($654 million in 2003, $1.066 billion in 2006 and $963 million in 2007) ushered in a new wave of PG-13, four-quadrant-friendly global fantasy blockbusters, right alongside Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings. To the extent that Disney was otherwise lacking in boy-friendly blockbusters, we saw a flurry of underwhelming mega-budget fantasies all with dreams of Jack Sparrow-level grosses. They bought Marvel (and eventually Lucasfilm) because they couldn’t get their own boy-friendly franchises off the ground.


Image Source:*WALT DISNEY

Source:forbes.com/