According to Deadline, Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Run All Night, The Shallows) has been chosen to direct superstar Dwayne Johnson (The Fate of the Furious) in Jungle Cruise, Disney’s live-action film based on their popular theme park attraction. The film is slated to begin shooting in spring of 2018.
Collet-Serra was also circling Warner Bros. and DC Films’ Suicide Squad 2, for which he was the top choice to direct, but he has now withdrawn from negotiations. His forte has been in high-stakes thrillers, though Jungle Cruise is said to be more of an action/adventure in the Indiana Jones-vein.
Writer-director pair John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Focus, Crazy, Stupid, Love.) were originally set to pen the Jungle Cruise script, though J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek Beyond) wrote the most recent draft. Johnson is set to produce alongside his Seven Bucks Productions partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia, as well as frequent collaborator Beau Flynn (San Andreas, Baywatch) of Flynn Picture Co. John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment will also produce.
A film adaptation of the ride, one of the original rides from the opening day of Disneyland, was previously in development with a script by Al Gough and Miles Millar (Spider-Man 2, Smallville). Another attempt was made in 2011 with Disney officially announcing an adaptation starring Toy Story‘s own Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. Neither versions ultimately materialized.
Should this version become a reality, it would join the ranks of films Disney has created based on their theme park attractions, including The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion, Mission to Mars, Tomorrowland, and the most popular, Pirates of the Caribbean.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
