After a long delay, Jungle Cruise, the Disney film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, will finally hit the big screen this summer. In an Instagram video taken in his “Iron Paradise” (his gym, of course), Johnson announced the film will premiere in theaters and stream on Disney+ Premier on July 30, 2021. For Johnson, the news is a sign that life is regaining some normalcy.
“Now that we are coming out of COVID slowly,” he said in the video, “we gotta own this rebound, we got to get back out there, and live the life that we wanna live.”
According to Johnson, the combination of an in-home and theatrical release gives audiences the option to see the film in the safest way possible. He and his family all had COVID-19, so he’s especially sensitive to the dangers of the virus, he said. If you decide to go with the streaming option, the film will be available to Disney+ subscribers for a one-time purchase price of $30, Deadline reports.
The film, which is inspired by a Disney theme park ride, follows boat captain Frank Wolff (Johnson) and Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt), a medical researcher, as they make a perilous journey into the Amazon in search of a mysterious tree with “unparalleled healing abilities,” as the official film synopsis describes it.
Although the new release date comes over a full year later than originally scheduled, Johnson noted the new date has some special significance to him. Years ago on July 30, he saw a preview for Pirates of the Caribbean and was inspired to star in a similar Disney film himself.
“One day, if I’m lucky enough, if I work my butt off enough,” he said, “maybe Disney will offer me a movie based on one of their iconic rides.”
Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.
You can watch Johnson’s full video (including a short teaser trailer) above. Jungle Cruise premieres in theaters and streams on Disney+ on July 30.
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