Jumanji: The Next Level, out in theaters on December 13, lives up to its name by taking the franchise to the next level. After the breakout success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, its sequel adds to its star-studded cast and gives them more roles to play – all while sending the perfect heartwarming message for the holiday season. Producers Hiram Garcia and Matt Tolmach sat down with Screen Rant to share how the idea for the film was born and what makes their behind-the-scenes team such a perfect fit.
This movie’s amazing. Way more heartfelt than I, for some reason, thought it was going to be. Now that there’s less scrutiny on remaking this property, and you’ve proven you reinvigorated the franchise, in what way is there less or more pressure for Jumanji: The Next Level?
This movie was such a fun ride, but it also had a great message about aging. At what point in cracking the story did you hit on this theme as the one you wanted to get out?
Matt Tolmach: Interesting question. There’s always pressure; we put a ton of pressure on ourselves. I think there’s a different kind of pressure - which is when you make a movie that works, that audiences embrace, and especially when they embrace the character. The challenge, because we all want to live in a world where we’re making a sequel to a hit movie that’s a great thing to challenge that super, is that you feel the “with great power” thing. It’s daunting knowing we need to give audiences an experience that is akin or better to the one we already did, and so you really have to look hard at what you’re doing.
None of us were ever going complacent about this and be like, “Let’s churn out another one.” The conversation was for a long time, “How do we do this again, but turn it on its ear and do something big?” Something that’s in the spirit of the first one, but totally different.
Hiram Garcia: Personally, for most of us, it was our best filmmaking experience ever. It’s always been this very special thing, so for it to do as well as it did, it was such a gift. You always have great wishes and hopes, but it exceeded all of ours. When we had the opportunity to do the sequel, it’s like, “If we’re going to do it, it needs to be right and it needs to be worthy.” Pretty much everyone locked arms and was saying, “If we can’t figure out what that take is that’s worthy of telling the story, we’re not going to do it.”
Much to the chagrin of Sony. But this is important, especially for Jake. We have to crack the right story, however long it takes. That’s the only way we can do the sequel. We were fortunate to hit on a story that, like you said, added to it and that’s the reason we were able to make it.
One thing that really surprised me was Awkwafina as Danny DeVito? Were there any happy accidents that you saw with these avatar changes or was everything planned? Was anybody freestyling?
Matt Tolmach: Jake is very clearly the creative and spiritual leader of our endeavor every day. And we were all talking about this idea right away; we started talking about who else we can bring into the family and the idea of changing avatars.
But when he pitched us the idea of these older guys, and this kind of Sunshine Boys notion of turning things on their ear, we all just lit up. There are those moments where you get the idea, like, “So Dwayne is going to be… Danny DeVito? Yeah, I’m making that movie.”
Hiram Garcia: And to the testament of the actors as well, who all obviously loved the movie and were all raising their hand to do the sequel, but they there was an asterisk. They go, “We want to do a sequel, but it’s got to be different. It can’t be the same thing.” I remember Dwayne being very clear. He was like, “I’ve got to be able to play other people. We all have to be able to play other people. I really feel that there’s a power in that.” The fun of different people taking on these avatars; he really pushed for that, and Jake ran with it. It was a question of how do we still deliver on the great kind of banter and comedy? What’s the setup that allows him to keep doing that but in a new way?
Jake, who is a master of storytelling, was able to crack this. I remember our eyes lighting up when he said, “Danny DeVito and what is basically Grumpy Old Men in these bodies as avatars!” We were like, “Yes!” and we were off and running. Because they’d hit that thing where it was honoring what we’d done, but it was something new and bigger.
Matt Tolmach: It was a totally different idea, but it played right into that sacred Kevin and DJ thing that love hate combative, “I love you, but I want to kill you” dynamic. It gets to be played out in a totally different way.
As producers, this franchise is going to take a huge calculated risk going up against Star Wars. Why is that strategy so successful?
Matt Tolmach: There was a ton of freestyling going on. It’s one thing to write it and to conceive of it, but then there’s the actual interpretation of it. I remember hearing DJ’s accent for the first time, which was so jarring. I remember Awkwafina has a moment in the movie where she’s talking about lockpicks. We stood there and we watched that, and that’s the genius of a brilliant actor; a brilliant comedic actor and a mimic being able to channel something like that. And that came out of her and Jake, and it’s brilliant when it aligns.
Hiram Garcia: It’s a testament to actors playing multiple characters. They’re all playing multiple characters, but I do remember a specific moment with Awkwafina. It was at the table read, and we had just got her on board. She had just signed on, we were going through this whole process of trying to recruit her. She loved the script, and we did this table read. And when it came to the part where she started speaking like Danny DeVito, I just remember a moment of us looking at each other and being like, “It is unbelievable how well she does DeVito, and it is out of nowhere.”
She’s extremely talented. All of the actors are, especially building off of the first movie. They’ve just grown so much, in terms of playing different guys at different times. How much fun for them to sink their toes into this and show how great they all are.
You guys have assembled such a fantastic team. What do you think the most important part of producing is when it comes to getting a franchise going like this?
Hiram Garcia: I think with this franchise, what we’ve always been very confident in is that Star Wars is Star Wars. We’re there opening night; we’re super excited. It’s the beast that it is. But the great thing about Jumanji is that, especially during the holiday times, we always have felt that our movie is the kind of movie that the whole family can agree on. Let’s all go together; we’re gonna laugh, we’re gonna have fun, we’re gonna leave the theater having felt our heartstrings pulled and shedding a tear. And I think creating a communal theater-going experience like that is the goal of great cinema: everyone can go, you have the spectacle and the action.
We’ve always felt very confident that there’s plenty of room during the holiday season. You don’t need to beat Star Wars. You just need to play along.
Matt Tolmach: Right. The place we ended up is next to Star Wars, and we’re all going. That’s good for the world. There is room for other beloved movies to succeed wildly. There’s always a big movie out there. You can’t start sweating, saying, “I need the perfect week.” It doesn’t exist anymore.
So, what you have is a movie that people love and a holiday that coincides with the spirit of the movie. Hopefully it’s the time of year that people are thinking about the thing that the movie’s really about, which is, “Who are the people I need in my life? Who are the people that are there for me and care for me?” All those things that are that are, whatever you believe, present ideas around the holidays. This is a movie that really speaks to that, and it makes you laugh. Like you said. you walk out and you feel good.
Seven Bucks Productions is helping expand several key franchises. Is Marvel next, like The Rock teased? Given the meeting Kevin Feige, is there anything going on with that?
Matt Tolmach: Here’s my take, as the oldest person in the room who’s worn a bunch of different hats.
Hiram Garcia: My Yoda.
Matt Tolmach: You need a director who knows what movie he’s making. You need a filmmaker who is in charge, who is channeling tone every day. You have so much talent on that set, and things can go wildly good but also wild.
He knows the movie that we’re making. And as producers, it’s our job to support him, to support the actors, to support the crew, and to work at the studio hand in hand. We have a great relationship with them. But to sit behind a director who actually understands what movie he’s making and to really serve him or her is our job. And we have that in Jake. We get up every day, and we literally sit behind Jake. And we’re there for him.
Hiram Garcia: We run and block. Like you said, you get a great filmmaker like Jake, and our job is to put the best pieces around him and just run and block. Make sure he doesn’t have to worry about anything except making the best movie and having the actors do what he wants them to do. We’re just creating a perimeter; handling this and handling that, setting him up. Every now and then, “Hey, man, this is great. Just wanted to let you know that we got your back! Rock and roll.”
And Jake is in his prime right now. It’s been so fun to watch him continue to grow and grow. He just knows this movie inside and out.
Matt Tolmach: And his evolution in this franchise. He was always a brilliant filmmaker, but his familiarity with these characters. And he also really wrote the story. He wrote it with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, but Jake is rewriting every single day.
Hiram Garcia: He’s directing and doing all that, and he’s writing every day. It’s a testament to him; he’s such a master of comedy. And we feel that in our movie. To the end, he’s testing the movie and making sure everything’s perfect.
Matt Tolmach: On the set, we’ll go through and shoot the scene the way it’s scripted. You’ve got the greatest comedic actors in the world, and we always at some point in the scene go into this sort of riffing period. And that’s such a skill and a gift for the director to promote ideas and create a space where actors feel like they can play. It’s amazing.
More: Jake Kasdan Interview for Jumanji: The Next Level
Hiram Garcia: We take pride in all our relationships in the business, and we’re friends with Kevin. Right now, there’s nothing planned. We’re just huge fans of him, and he’s a fan of us. We have admiration for each other, and we’re very excited when it comes to superhero stuff. Right now we’re focused on Black Adam, but anything is possible in the universe. But nothing right now is planned.
- Jumanji 3 Release Date: 2019-12-13
