Jungle Cruise

***Jungle Cruise*** is a 2021 American fantasy adventure film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra from a screenplay written by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, and Michael Green. It is based on Walt Disney's eponymous theme park attraction. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti, and follows the captain of a small riverboat who takes a scientist and her brother through a jungle in search of the Tree of Life.

Plans for a feature film based on the Jungle Cruise ride began in 2004, the project laid dormant until 2011, then that version fell through and Johnson joined in 2015. Blunt and the rest of the cast joined in 2018 in a revamped version, with filming taking place in Hawaii and Atlanta, Georgia, from May through September that year. One of the most expensive films ever made, the film had a budget of $200 million. Following a year of post-production and further a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, *Jungle Cruise* was released in the United States on July 30, 2021, simultaneously in theaters and digitally through Disney+ with Premier Access, with music composed by James Newton Howard.

The film has grossed over $209 million worldwide making it the tenth highest-grossing film of 2021. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Johnson and Blunt's chemistry and the entertainment values, but criticized the screenplay and the abundance of CGI. A sequel is in development with Johnson and Blunt set to reprise their roles.

## Plot

In 1556, Don Aguirre leads Spanish conquistadors to South America to search for Lágrimas de Cristal Tree, whose flowers cure illness, heal injuries, and lift curses. After most conquistadors die, the Puka Michuna tribe heals the survivors with the Tree's flowers. The tribal chief refuses to reveal the Tree's location, so Aguirre stabs him and burns the village. The dying chief curses the conquistadors, making them immortal and unable to leave sight of the Amazon River; the jungle recaptures anyone attempting to escape.

In 1916 London, Dr. Lily Houghton's Tears of the Moon research is presented by her brother, MacGregor, to the Royal Society, claiming that the Tree's flowers could revolutionize medicine and aid the British war effort. The Houghtons request access to a recently acquired arrowhead artifact. Lily believes it and an old Amazon map are the key to finding the Tree. The society denies the request, believing the Tree is a myth and female scientists are inferior. Lily steals the arrowhead, narrowly evading Prince Joachim, an ambitious German royal also seeking the Tree.

Arriving in Brazil, Lily and MacGregor need a boat and a guide to take them down the Amazon. They hire skipper Frank Wolff, who offers cut-rate jungle cruises embellished with faked dangers and corny puns. Frank initially declines, saying the trip is too dangerous, but he reconsiders upon seeing the arrowhead. Frank steals back his repossessed boat engine, and the trio departs after escaping Joachim, who pursues them in a U-boat.

In Frank's cabin, Lily notices photos and sketches of modern inventions, as well as maps, drawings, and research on the Tears of the Moon. She accuses Frank of seeking the Tree, though he insists he gave up long ago. Puka Michuna tribe, disguised as cannibals, captures the group as one of Frank's faux dangers that he was unable to cancel in time. Lily is angry and doubts Frank's honesty. The tribal chief translates the arrowhead's symbols, revealing the Tree's location and that it only blooms under a blood moon.

Meanwhile, Joachim locates the conquistadors petrified inside a cave and frees them by diverting the river, on the conditional offer to lift their curse if they retrieve the arrowhead for him; the Spaniards attack the tribe and fatally stab Frank. Lily escapes with the arrowhead. As she crosses the curse's boundary, vines capture the pursuing Spaniards, dragging them back into the jungle.

To the Houghtons' shock, a fully revived Frank is found the next morning. Frank reveals he is one of the cursed conquistadors who were once on a noble expedition to save Aguirre's gravely ill daughter, but attacked the village. To defend the tribe, Frank trapped the other conquistadors after years of fighting, away from the river where they turned to stone. He then spent centuries unsuccessfully searching for the Tree, as the artifact was protected by the then tribal chief's daughter; it would later be kept in London museum for Dr. Albert Falls.

Lily and Frank continue to La Luna Rota Waterfall where they discover and raise a submerged temple. Meanwhile, Joachim captures MacGregor, forcing him to reveal Lily's location. Frank, Lily, MacGregor, the Germans, and the Spaniards all converge in the temple that houses the Tree. It is discovered the arrowhead is actually a heart-shaped locket containing a gemstone. After placing the gem and locket into the trunk, the dormant tree blooms under the blood moon. As a fight ensues, Lily recovers one flower. The Germans drown, Joachim is crushed to death, and Frank crashes his boat to block the river, petrifying him and the Spaniards. Lily, realizing her true feelings for Frank, sacrifices the flower to lift his curse and restore his mortality. Frank, who wanted to end his life, decides he will continue living to be with Lily. The moon's last beam blooms a single flower, allowing Lily's research to proceed.

Upon their successful return to England, Lily becomes a full professor at Cambridge and the Royal Society offers her full membership, which she rejects and guides Frank in London.

## Cast

* Dwayne Johnson as Frank Wolff / Francisco Lopez de Heredia: A shrewd, cynical but ultimately noble steamboat skipper who reluctantly agrees to guide two explorers on their quest for the mythical Tree. He eventually reveals his true name and identity as the adopted brother of Aguirre and as one of the cursed conquistadors, forever trapped by the Amazon river. He is a trained cartographer who has spent centuries searching for the Tree to break the curse that made him immortal so he can die peacefully. Meanwhile, he has built a town, and a boat he christened "La Quila" for his business under "Jungle Navigation Company". He has had a number of tamed exotic cats as a pet, each one named "Proxima".
* Emily Blunt as Dr. Lily Houghton: An eccentric, adventurous and virtuous botanist working in a male-dominated field. She embarks on a quest to find the Tree, hoping to harness its power for modern medicine. Possessing an ancient arrowhead and one of Frank's old maps of the Amazon, she proves she is resourceful and capable in martial arts and lock picking skills, though she cannot swim. She wants to prove herself equal to her chauvinistic peers but gains some notoriety for wearing trousers.
* Édgar Ramírez as Aguirre: A Spanish conquistador who once sought the Tree's power to save his ill daughter, only to be cursed with immortality for his cruelty towards its guardians. Temporarily freed by German explorers, he sets out to take revenge on his adopted brother, Francisco, who sided against him to defend the tribe. His body is now composed of and infested with snakes.
* Jack Whitehall as MacGregor Houghton: Lily's younger brother who works as her assistant. He confesses to Frank that when his family nearly disowned him after he refused to marry, as his interest lies "elsewhere" being a gay man, Lily hired him so he could support himself. A somewhat foppish snob who adheres to proper etiquette and prefers wearing three-piece suits, he seems ill-suited to jungle life, but gradually develops into a more confident, rugged man by the end of the expedition.
* Jesse Plemons as Prince Joachim: A deranged and ambitious German royal, who finances and leads a military expedition with mercenaries to claim the Tree of Life, both to aid Germany's war effort and achieve immortality. He gets aid by the cursed conquistadors after he frees them for his own interest, and he can talk to the bees and snakes.
* Paul Giamatti as Nilo Nemolato: The harbormaster at Nilo's River Adventure, Porto Velho, where Frank moors his boat. He is also a business rival, and confiscates Frank's boat engine when Frank is unable to repay him his loan. This leads Frank to wreck Nilo's prize boats in return. He owns a Moluccan cockatoo he named "Rosita".

Additionally, a jaguar named Proxima appears in the film, portrayed on set by stunt actor Ben Jenkin. Veronica Falcón portrays Trader Sam, chief of the Puka Michuna tribe in 1916, a tribe in the Amazon which guards the Tree. Dani Rovira, Quim Gutiérrez, and Dan Dargan Carter portray Aguirre's fellow conquistadors: Sancho, who is covered in honey and bees, Melchor, who is composed of roots and tree branches, and Gonzalo, who is made out of mud having poison dart frogs. Andy Nyman portrays Sir James Hobbs-Coddington, the Royal Society's artifact handler who briefly helps Prince Joachim; while Raphael Alejandro portrays Zaqueu, Frank's young assistant.

Frank's puns are inspired from the skipper's lines on the original theme park ride, and Lily's personality is inspired by the titular character of *Indiana Jones* franchise. The boat is named after Mama Killa; while character name of the cockatoo, originally named "Lover Girl", is inspired by the singing bird "Rosita" at Disneyland. The film has several elements referencing towards Dr. Albert Falls, a fictional character at Disneyland who has discovered Schweitzer Falls and has founded Jungle Navigation Company.

## Early versions

In December 2004, it was announced that *Jungle Cruise* would be developed for Mandeville Films, with a script by Josh Goldstein and John Norville. Following the success of *Pirates of the Caribbean*, the film was announced to take place within the twentieth century, and was loosely inspired by the theme park attraction of the same name which featured prominently in Disneyland's grand opening in 1955. In 2006, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar were in talks to write the film. In February 2011, it was announced that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who had previously worked together in the *Toy Story* franchise, would star in the long-gestating film, with a script to be written by Roger S. H. Schulman.

### Pre-production

In August 2015, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures was revamping the film adaptation, to star Dwayne Johnson. The previous script originally written by Goldstein and Norville would be rewritten by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra with the intention to harken back to its period roots; John Davis and John Fox signed in as producers. Johnson, who did a lot of research before getting into the role, announced in April 2017 that he would co-produce the film under his Seven Bucks Productions, and expressed his interest in having Patty Jenkins helm the project, but in July 2017, Jaume Collet-Serra was announced as the director of the film. In January 2018, Michael Green was reported to have rewritten the script, previously worked on by Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne; also Emily Blunt signed in, as Johnson wanted her to be his co-star.

### Casting

Édgar Ramírez plays the role of Aguirre
In March 2018, an open casting call was made for the other characters in the film, including men and women of all ethnicities, between ages 17 to 90, and children of 6–14 years old. In the same month, Jack Whitehall was cast as the brother of Blunt's character. Six months later, it was reported that he would have a coming out scene in the film with Johnson; this would be the second incidence of a gay character in a live-action Disney film, the first being Le Fou, portrayed by Josh Gad, in the 2017 adaptation of *Beauty and the Beast*. There was some backlash over the report, with some online expressing anger over a straight man being cast as a "camp" gay character.

In April 2018, Édgar Ramírez and Jesse Plemons were added to the cast as villains with the former being "a man with a conquistador background". In May, Paul Giamatti was cast to portray a "crusty harbormaster." In June, Quim Gutiérrez joined the cast to portray one of the villains. In July, it was announced that Veronica Falcón, Dani Rovira and Andy Nyman had joined the cast. Before Falcón was cast as the Trader Sam, a role inspired by a character at the theme park who is originally a male, it was being discussed whether the role would be portrayed by a male or a female in the film.

### Filming

The first span of the shoot began on May 16, 2018, in Hawaii, where a port town was set up at Kapaia Reservoir, Kauai, near Wailua Falls. The set took one month to scout, two months to design and four months to build, dress and landscape, while being challenged by the floody rains. Other shoot locations include the town of Lihue, the Kauai Plantation Railway and Huleia Stream. After seven weeks, the shoot then moved for a major course at Blackhall Studios, Atlanta, where a pool was set up in a large tank as the river, as well as the jungle in it. Some scenes were also filmed at Oxford College of Emory University.

Two boats of length "39 feet" were built for easy logistics in filming at both the locations, revealed production designer, Jean-Vincent Puzos. Paco Delgado said that while some of the suits are original from the twentieth century, the costumes for the main characters and the tribals were especially made for the film, for which he researched the cultures of different tribes in the Amazon. He told that Amelia Earhart was the inspiration for Blunt's costume. Joel Harlow did make-up for 400 background characters to detail their appearance whether with a sunburn or an insect bite, also he made tattoo designs for 65 tribal characters. Tanoai Reed and Myles Humphus were Johnson's stunt doubles while Lauren Shaw was Blunt's.

The film cinematographer Flavio Martínez Labiano revealed that the blue screen technology was used. Magenta tinted lights were used for a sequence of the tree. He also wanted to show colorful "London in the summer" unlike many other films which depict London in winter when "it's foggy and it's blue". Arri Alexa SXT Plus cameras were used, with specially designed C Series Anamorphic Prime Lenses by Panavision. To shoot the underwater sequence, a puzzle set was built in the second tank and then it was filled with water. Ian Seabrookand, an underwater cinematographer, told that it about took two weeks to shoot simultaneously while the main cast was also busy shooting in the first tank, so the stunt doubles had to be present there too. He told that while Johnson was a strong swimmer, Blunt, on the other hand, showed no fear despite being a novice in acting underwater. In case, the water tank also had emergency exits for her on right and left sides of camera. The set had to be pulled out of water by a crane so he held the camera throughout.

Filming wrapped on September 14, with about 95 days of principal photography. A few re-shoots took place before June 2019, which took three weeks in Atlanta. Johnson shared that the film pays homage to *The African Queen*, *Romancing the Stone*, and *Indiana Jones*.

### Post-production

DNEG provided 385 visual effects shots including the 'Tree of Life' for the film
Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl served as the sound designers, while Joel Negron served as the film editor; with DNEG, Industrial Light & Magic, Rodeo FX, Rising Sun Pictures, and Weta Digital providing the visual effects, along with The Third Floor. It took about a year in the post-production stage, but was shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, however, it resumed in the summer and completed in September 2020.

After filming and before the post-production phase, the teams were sent to Amazon rainforest, Brazil, and Costa Rica forest, where they recorded the actual surroundings, including "pristine wildlife and hundreds of species of exotic birds", so the background effects library can be created for the film, using different types of microphones, including ambisonic and parabolic. Two Alexa Minis, a drone and several cameras were used for the reference photography and footages, which took about three weeks.

The port town, the water and the jungle, all were built on a limited scale and were extended through CGI to create backgrounds. Plate shots were also captured at the Colorado River; these were used to animate the turbulent and aerated water, so the boat can be animated running at 200 kmph on the river as its journey is seen in the film. The 3D team made such effects like "light reflecting off the water, bugs flying around and dew glistening on leaves", so the film weather looks humid summer.

To portray the character of Proxima, a stunt actor in jaguar morphsuit as well as a stuffed toy were on set. To animate it for the film, a collection of plates from big cats was used with most references taken from a female jaguar in San Diego Zoo, before its 3D modelling and sculpting, with details like a mark on her forehead, a folded over ear, and the muscle and skin system. Other animals were also observed to create its reaction on interactions. A pet cat also made an appearance as baby Proxima. In sequences of the pink river dolphins, each one was animated sepearately to build its own character, while the piranhas were also created with CGI.

To animate the conquistadors, the frogs were recorded from Costa Rica forest, honeycomb dripping sound was used, sounds of pressurized air releases were used for the snakes, and sounds of wood stress were used. Materials were gathered to study the actual movements of the snakes for the animation. The submarine was also digitally extended, after it was shot in a tank. To visualize the explosions by torpedo, rubber and wooden structures were used.

The scene for the Tree of Life was animated after taking inspirations from "Banyan trees, Baobabs, Angkor Wat and native South American trees" to give it an ancient look. The branches were made in higher resolution "to keep the Tree very organic and verging on gnarled". The tree growth and petal variations were observed, and lighting balance was considered after merging different shots, in order to animate the exposing and reverting of the petals' luminosity.

Most of the environmental surroundings and water elements were built and animated on Houdini, while the greenery was developed on SpeedTree.

### Music

 Released
 Recorded
 Length
 Label
 Producer

James Newton Howard composed the score of *Jungle Cruise*; Metallica also collaborated for instrumental version one of their tracks.

In January 2019, it was announced that James Newton Howard joined the production as the film score composer. By August 2020, it was revealed that Metallica collaborated with Howard on an instrumental version of the song "Nothing Else Matters", for the film. According to the band's drummer Lars Ulrich, Metallica worked on the film after Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey, felt like *Jungle Cruise* was "the right fit" for a collaboration between Disney and Metallica. Bailey had been "always looking for the right match where there was a way that Metallica could contribute to some Disney project". The band members recorded their parts from their individual studios, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The score was recorded in February 2020 by a 99-person orchestra, with vocals provided by 40 members from the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In order to add a "regional flavor", Howard incorporated panpipes and Brazilian percussion instruments. Frequent Metallica collaborator Greg Fidelman served as associate producer and engineer. The soundtrack album was released on July 30, 2021.

## Reception

### PVOD viewership

In its opening weekend, Disney reported the film made $30 million from worldwide Disney+ Premier sales, with Samba TV saying $23.3 million of it came from 770,000 U.S. households. Through its first 10 days of release, Samba reported the film had been streamed in 1.5 million households for a running domestic Premier Access gross of $44.98 million.

### Box office

As of September 26, 2021, *Jungle Cruise* has grossed $114.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $92.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $207.8 million. With an estimated combined production and promotional cost of $362 million, the film needed to gross around $500 million worldwide in order to break-even.

In the United States and Canada, *Jungle Cruise* was released alongside *Stillwater* and *The Green Knight*, and was projected to gross around $25 million from 4,310 theaters. The film made $13.4 million on its first day, including $2.7 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly over-perform, debuting to $35 million to top the box office. The opening was met with a polarized response from industry insiders, with some noting the film managed to finish above projections while others blamed the pandemic and simultaneous digital release for eating into possible grosses, with one financial insider telling *Deadline Hollywood* that "the model diminishes the aggregate streaming revenue as well as cuts into a movie's theatrical gross." In its second weekend, the film fell 55% to $15.7 million, finishing second behind newcomer *The Suicide Squad*. The film made $9 million in its third weekend, $6.2 million in its fourth, and $5 million in its fifth.

In other territories, the film debuted to $27.6 million from 47 markets, below its $40 million projections. Its largest markets were the UK ($3.2 million), France ($1.6 million), and South Korea ($1.2 million). In its second weekend, the film made $15.1 million from 49 markets, with the top running-totals being the UK ($8.5 million), Russia ($5.9 million), France ($4.2 million), Japan ($4 million), and Saudi Arabia ($2.7 million).

### Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 62% based on 319 reviews, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Its craft isn't quite as sturdy as some of the classic adventures it's indebted to, but *Jungle Cruise* remains a fun, family-friendly voyage." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 80% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Writing for *Variety*, Owen Gleiberman praised Johnson and Blunt's chemistry and said that the film is "a little good old-fashioned" and it "pelts the audience with entertainment in such a lively yet bumptious way that at times you may wish you were wearing protective gear." Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas of *Double Toasted* both gave it a relatively positive review; even going so far as to predict that other critics would negatively critique it simply because of its premise. However, they were both split on the portrayal of Jack Whitehall's character; while Thomas found it as a positive step forward for *LGBT* characters, Coleman found it somewhat campy and unnecessary.

*Rolling Stone* reviewer David Fear gave the film 2.5/5 stars and called it an "attempt to sell the Magic Kingdom's vintage" boat ride as "the next big endless-summer-movie thing", adding that "Blunt's tart apple crisp of a comic performance pairs nicely with Johnson's beefcake served with a side of ham." In *The New York Times*, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote a negative review that the film is a "soggy mess" with "mostly unintelligible" plot, adding that it "exhibits a blatantly faux exoticism that feels as flat as the forced frisson between its two leads". Writing for ABC News, reviewer Peter Travers commented that "made up of spare parts from better movies and at over two-hours in length", the film will be "tough on short attention spans"; however, he added that it is "better than *Haunted Mansion* and *Tomorrowland*", other Disney rides based films.

## Sequel

After the release weekend of *Jungle Cruise*, Dwayne Johnson announced that discussions were underway with Walt Disney Pictures for a sequel, which could answer many questions left behind in the film. On August 30, 2021, it was reported that Johnson and Blunt were set to reprise their roles in a screenplay. Michael Green is developing the script, with Jaume Collet-Serra expected to return as director while John Davis, John Fox, Beau Flynn, Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia return to produce with Scott Sheldon returning as executive producer. Johnson later confirmed a sequel was in development on August 31 via a video posted on his official Instagram account.