The final level has arrived. Sony has released the first trailer for Jumanji: Open World, the fifth film in the franchise and the third starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. And this time, the jungle isn’t staying in the game.
Billed as the franchise’s final chapter, the trailer teases an action-packed adventure where video game avatars escape into the real world, bringing rhinos, giant lizards and chaos to suburban streets just in time for Christmas.
The Game Escapes The Console
The trailer opens during the holiday season with Spencer Gilpin, played by Alex Wolff, having dinner with family when a rhinoceros crashes through the restaurant. Spencer soon spots familiar faces: Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone, Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon, Franklin “Mouse” Finbar and Ruby Roundhouse. Only they are no longer inside Jumanji. They’ve escaped into the real world, and they’re “stuck in demo mode”.
The core mission this time is to get everyone back into the game and restore the barrier between reality and fiction. But there’s a twist: the avatars end up swapping bodies with real people in Spencer’s life, creating another layer of body-swap comedy that made the reboot so popular. Footage shown at CinemaCon described massive animals running wild in towns, characters moving like video game NPCs on highways, and Dr. Bravestone hilariously struggling to drive. In one scene, Johnson’s character even speaks with a Spanish accent, and he and Hart argue in Spanish, adding to the chaos.
The Returning Cast And New Faces
The core four are back for the third time together:Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone
Kevin Hart as Franklin “Mouse” Finbar
Jack Black as Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon
Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse
They are joined by franchise regulars
Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, Rhys Darby, Marin Hinkle, Bebe Neuwirth and Alex Wolff. New additions include Burn Gorman and Brittany O’Grady.
Director Jake Kasdan returns to close out the trilogy he started with Welcome to the Jungle in 2017.
A Tribute To The Original
While the reboot shifted Jumanji from a board game to a video game, Open World directly connects back to the 1995 classic starring Robin Williams.
Johnson revealed at CinemaCon that the film will include a tribute to Williams. One half of the original dice used by Williams in the first Jumanji will factor into the plot. The footage also opens with a character calling an old video game console “an old video game,” before the world around them begins to shift. The franchise itself is inspired by Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 children’s book. After the 1995 film, there was a 2005 spin-off Zathura before the series was revived in 2017.
The Biggest Stakes Yet
Previous films kept the danger inside jungles and deserts. Open World flips that. According to Sony’s description and CinemaCon footage, the video game world has “officially collided with reality”.“Now, the teenagers must reunite with their avatars in the real world to stop the jungle’s most dangerous threats from taking over our cities,” the official trailer description states.
The title Open World reflects that expansion. The logo, revealed earlier this year, keeps the franchise’s weathered stone texture and emerald green backdrop, with three glowing strobes spotlighting it as “the final chapter”.
Release Date And Franchise Legacy
Jumanji: Open World is set for December 25, 2026 in theaters. Sony moved the film from its original December 11 date to avoid clashing with Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three, signaling strong confidence in its holiday box office power.
The gap between this and 2019’s The Next Level is seven years, caused by COVID delays and scheduling conflicts with the A-list ensemble.
The reboot has been massive for Sony. Welcome to the Jungle grossed $962.5 million worldwide, while The Next Level pulled in $801.69 million. Johnson has called this final installment an emotional and high-stakes adventure designed to pay homage to both the new fans and the original film.
What The Trailer Promises
Expect the usual mix of action, body-swap comedy and video game logic, but on a bigger scale. The trailer emphasizes demo-mode glitches, urban jungle chases, and the cast playing “different versions” of their avatars in the real world.Black said it’s the most fun he’s had on a Jumanji set. Hart joked that shooting with Johnson is “tough” but worth it.
With the game spilling out of the console, Jumanji: Open World promises to deliver the franchise’s most chaotic and heartfelt finale yet.
