How much money could Jumanji: The Next Level make in its domestic opening weekend? Early tracking is in, pointing to a very strong opening -- maybe even twice the opening of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I'd actually guess even more than that, but we'll see.
Jumanji: The Next Level has a lot to live up to. Expectations weren't exactly sky-high for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and it was a HUGE hit, going toe-to-toe with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The sequel is going for a similar trick, with The Next Level opening on December 13, a week before Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. This time, though, fans will be walking into The Next Level with high expectations (and some Star Wars fans will be walking into Rise of Skywalker still grumbling about The Last Jedi.)
If you recall, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened the week after Star Wars: The Last Jedi and put up a strong showing. Welcome to the Jungle opened in 2nd place, after The Last Jedi, with $36.1 million. The Jumanji follow-up went on to have several #1 weekends on its way to a worldwide gross of $962,126,927. That's off a reported production budget of $90 million.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle benefited from strong word-of-mouth -- good reviews, (76% from 227 RT critics), an even better audience score (87% from 38,462 users), and an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers polled on opening night.
So, yeah, Jumanji: The Next Level -- or Jumanji 3, if you want to call it that -- has big shoes to fill. Box Office Pro just posted a long-range forecast for the 2019 movie. They gave The Next Level an estimated domestic opening weekend range of $66-76 million. Their ultimate guess was $70 million for the three-day opening with a domestic total of $265 million.
Sometimes these early forecasts are pretty close and other times they are way off, since factors change as we get closer to the release date. I think that domestic total of $265M is waaaaaay too low, especially when you consider Welcome to the Jungle had a domestic total of $404.5 million. A $70 million opening, though, would be almost twice as much as the $36 million Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle got from 2017-2018. I still think $70 million is too low.
There isn't too much direct competition for The Next Level's opening weekend -- it opens December 13 along with the slasher film Black Christmas and Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell. I think The Next Level will take the lion's share of the money, and then it just has to worry about staying alive opposite The Rise of Skywalker the next weekend.
Jumanji: The Next Level had a fantastic opening trailer showing off the new story and new characters and avatars. Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson are already cracking up fans in their "new" roles, and it looks like the vibe of Welcome to the Jungle is still strong in this movie. There are more locations in The Next Level, and new cast members including Danny Glover, Danny DeVito, and Awkwafina. Jack Black, Nick Jonas, and Karen Gillan are all back as well.
Kevin Hart is still recovering from his major car accident injuries, but that hasn't affected his promotion for Jumanji: The Next Level. Filming finished back in May, and The Rock shared a sweet tribute, including a photo of the team walking off into a desert sunset. We'll have to wait for the end of The Next Level (and box office receipts) to know if we should expect the team to return for Jumanji 4. Here's more of what we know so far about Jumanji 3: The Next Level.
Will you be seeing Jumanji: The Next Level during its December 13-15 opening weekend? How much do YOU think it will make at the U.S./Canada box office? Do you agree with the long-range forecast of $66-$76 million, recalling that the first movie opened to $36 million?
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