Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Promises to Honour Robin Williams with 'Jumanji' Reboot

BY Josiah HughesPublished May 11, 2016

There's no denying that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the most lovable muscleman working today (sorry, Vin Diesel). With his alluring charisma, iconic eyebrows and chiselled chest, he manages to rise above even the worst movie ideas. That said, fans are questioning whether he can save a Jumanji reboot.

Sure, The Rock is going adaptation crazy with forthcoming film projects like BaywatchRampage and maybe even a new version of Big Trouble in Little China. But can he really do justice to material first popularized by the late, great Robin Williams?

Since he's so damn charming, The Rock has decided to give these doubts the people's elbow with a statement. In an Instagram post, available below, he promised to honour the memory of Williams. 

"An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams," the CFL player turned wrestler turned actor wrote. "The love and respect I have for this man is boundless. "You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of 'Alan Parrish' will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of JUMANJI in an earnest and cool way. I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud."

The Rock also looked back on an encounter he had with Williams. "I also think Robin is somewhere lookin' down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn't even get my words out. Idiot," he wrote of himself. "He literally calmed me down w/ that smile and laugh. But that's for another fun story down the road."

The Jumanji reboot is being directed by Jake Kasdan (Bad Teacher). It's set to open on July 28, 2017.
 
 

And the #JUMANJI magic begins. Excellent meeting with our director Jake Kasdan, producer Matt Tolmach, and our @SevenBucksProd team to work on our new re-imagining of this amazing story. I felt like in order to craft something cool we should begin where it all started. Award winning writer Chris Van Allsburg's source material of JUMANJI. Chris also wrote THE POLAR EXPRESS (later adapted by Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks) and has a very special & magical way of storytelling. I'm feelin' good and confident stepping into these shoes as a producer as well as actor to bring you something great that you and your entire fam can enjoy. An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams. The love and respect I have for this man is boundless. You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of "Alan Parrish" will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of JUMANJI in an earnest and cool way. I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud. I also think Robin is somewhere lookin' down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn't even get my words out. Idiot. He literally calmed me down w/ that smile and laugh. But that's for another fun story down the road. We got a great team assembled already over at our home base of SONY and now we build from here. Here's another fun part... in the original movie there were three big roles. In our new story there's now FIVE. Been so damn cool to see all my actor buddies push their projects aside so hopefully they can come play in our world. Should have cool casting announcements this week. Will keep you posted. #TheMagicBegins #JustPressStart #JUMANJI

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on

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