Jack Whitehall and Emily Blunt will play a brother and sister in Disney’s latest attempt to turn one of their theme park rides into a movie franchise.
The ride in question is Jungle Cruise, which has been in operation since Disneyland first opened its doors in 1955, and has since spread to parks in Florida, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
A movie based on the ride has been in development for over a decade, thanks to the success of Disney’s previous ride-based film Pirates of the Caribbean.
It looks like this version will finally get made, however. First Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, was attached to star last year, fresh from his role in the recent Jumanji sequel. Then, in January, Emily joined the cast, having wrapped production on Mary Poppins Returns.
Now Variety reports that British comedian Jack Whitehall will play her brother, which is apparently a “key role.” Well-known in the U.K. for shows such as Fresh Meat and Bad Education, Jack has recently been making splashes across the pond with appearances on The Tonight Show and with his buddy James Corden.
And you can expect to see a lot more of Whitehall soon, as he has roles in Disney’s fantasy flick The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and the hotly anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel Good Omens.
Production on Jungle Cruise is expected to start soon, and though plot details are currently under wraps, it doesn’t take Sherlock to figure out things will probably go comically wrong during a river cruise through the jungle.
Do you like the idea of turning Jungle Cruise into a film?
