Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle turned a 1995 film into a $962M franchise

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a reboot of the 1995 Robin Williams film based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book, opened December 20, 2017 with a modest $36.2 million — not even first place, and five days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Then the film built rather than faded: revenue jumped nearly 20% between Christmas and New Year's weekends, it reached the top spot in its third weekend, and it stayed near the top for weeks. By mid-January it had $295.4M in North America and more than $674.3M worldwide; it finished with $962.1M.

ComScore's analyst called it 'an unqualified, out-and-out home run,' crediting positive audience feedback (4.5 out of 5 on PostTrak), the star power of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, and four-quadrant appeal. The film's longevity — it ran for half a year in theaters — made it a near-billion-dollar hit on a $90M budget.

Welcome to the Jungle earned $962.1M worldwide on a $90M budget — about ten times the original's North American gross — and ignited a sequel franchise.

The opening was a modest $36.2M, not even number one.

Word of mouth pushed it to number one by its third weekend.

It earned $962.1M worldwide on a $90M budget.

The 1995 original grossed $100.4M domestically.

The sequel The Next Level opened to $59.3M in 2019.

A reboot can beat the original by changing the genre: Sony recast Jumanji as a four-quadrant ensemble comedy, and audience word of mouth produced an unusually long, profitable run.

The success turned Jumanji into a tentpole franchise: The Next Level opened at $59.3M in December 2019 and neared $1 billion worldwide, and Sony continued the series. The reboot also demonstrated the value of reimagining a beloved IP with a new tone and cast instead of a faithful retread.