The date is set and Sony's
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel will officially go up against Disney's
Star Wars: Episode IX. Sony announced today a December 13, 2019 release date for the sequel to the 2017 action-comedy reboot starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.
Johnson took to Instagram following the announcement to share his excitement for the movie. Informing everyone that
"the game is not over," the star teased a new adventure filled with new characters while relishing in the opportunity to once again
"slap [Kevin Hart]'s lip's into next week."
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle released December 20, 2017, and despite going up against
Star Wars: The Last Jedi,
found incredible success at the box office. The reboot/sequel to 1995's
Jumanji - starring Robin Williams - has since grossed $404.5M domestically, making it Sony's highest-grossing movie domestically. Its global haul of $961.7M is second for Sony, trailing only
Skyfall ($1.1B).
While many studios typically cower in fear of the House of Mouse, Sony motion-pictures chief Tom Rothman, with unwavering confidence in the
Jumanji franchise,
had remained adamant about going up head-to-head against Star Wars: Episode IX in December 2019.
However,
Star Wars won't be the only competition
Jumanji faces from Disney this time around.
Frozen 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Walt Disney Animation's 2013 animated hit, is releasing November 27, 2019. While it's two week's ahead of
Jumanji's release, any sort of longevity in the theaters could cut into Sony's target audience.
Speaking of animated films, Sony also moved
Angry Birds 2 up to September 6, 2019, the same date as Warner Bros.' horror sequel
It. It was previously slated for September 20.