One Of Dwayne Johnson's Biggest Movie Sequels Is Officially Dead

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At least one long-in-the-works Dwayne Johnson sequel is dead in the water. The Rock and Emily Blunt have confirmed that "Jungle Cruise 2" is no longer happening at Disney. The first movie, based on the theme park attraction of the same name, hit theaters in 2021 and had franchise ambitions. Things have changed, though, and the follow-up is now a thing that could have been, rather than something that will be.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, both Johnson and Blunt confirmed that the sequel isn't moving forward. Disney first announced "Jungle Cruise 2" in August 2021, mere weeks after the first film's initial release. "I don't think so," both Johnson and Blunt said when asked whether the sequel was still happening. Johnson, speaking further on the topic, explained why, from his point of view, the sequel isn't moving forward:

"I think when Disney came under new leadership, they just shifted coming out of COVID. COVID shifted our business in a lot of ways. I think they looked at that property and thought, we did it once, not sure if we should revisit it again. Despite whether or not our chemistry was great."

"They did not want to set sail again, and that's fine," Blunt added.

Indeed, the pandemic was a huge factor with "Jungle Cruise," which made $220 million at the box office against a massive $200 million budget. Numbers like that don't typically scream "sequel," but this was an odd time. The 2021 summer box office was still in recovery mode following the pandemic. One strategy commonly used at the time was releasing movies in theaters and on streaming at the same time. This movie hit theaters and Disney+ Premiere Access, an expensive form of VOD, on the same day.

Even with whatever money the movie made on VOD, based on any logical box office math one could apply to the situation, a "Jungle Cruise 2" never made a lot of sense on paper. It's possible that the movie eventually turned a profit after all revenue streams were taken into account, but if it did, the profit was minimal. Four years removed, it now makes less sense than ever, so this isn't exactly a surprising reveal from the movie's stars.

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra ("Black Adam"), the movie centers on Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt), who enlists skipper Frank Wolff (Johnson) to take her down the Amazon in his beloved but rickety boat in search of an ancient healing tree. It was an attempt to turn a theme park ride into a hit movie, which Disney did very successfully with "Pirates of the Caribbean." All the studio's other attempts have been far less successful.

Meanwhile, Blunt and Johnson have both moved on to other ventures. Blunt recently starred in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "Oppenheimer," which netted her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Johnson, meanwhile, claims he's far less concerned with chasing box office at this point in his career. While "The Smashing Machine" was a big flop, Johnson earned high praise for his performance as UFC fighter Mark Kerr, with Blunt also starring alongside him in the Oscar hopeful. That same duo also has a movie in the works with the legendary Martin Scorsese, among other projects. 

Disney is reckoning with an increasingly uncertain marketplace, just as every other studio in Hollywood is right now. All involved seem happy enough to move on from "Jungle Cruise 2." 

You can grab "Jungle Cruise" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.