Dwayne Johnson explains year long delay for Disney’s Jungle Cruise

April 6th 2020, 9:41am

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Disney announced a schedule shuffle on Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annoucement included new dates for films that were previously delayed and one new date happened to be for MULAN, moving from its original March date to July 24. This put the film in the home originally set for JUNGLE CRUISE, starring Dwayne Johnson & Emily Blunt. With MULAN taking over, JUNGLE CRUISE was pushed a full year to July 30, 2021 and while it looks like this was done to make room for MULAN, actor Dwayne Johnson explains there was a bit more involved in the decision.

Dwayne Johnson posted a video to his Instagram page addressing the year long delay for film, which has seen a couple of delays since jumping into development back in 2015. Back in 2018, Disney moved the movie from October 11, 2019 to the July 24, 2020 date. Even though moviegoers will have to wait another year to see the film, Johnson also wants to assure the public that the film will be worth the wait. Most of the reason, according to Johnson, that the film has been pushed a year is the importance of getting Disney parks and cruise lines back up and running as their locations have been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic. He also stated that he and Disney want to make sure that families, especially children, are in the right place to truly experience the film and the delay puts some distance between the pandemic and the eventual release of the film. You can view Johnson's full Instagram video below:

View this post on Instagram

Our @disneystudios JUNGLE CRUISE is officially pushed by one year to be released JULY 30, 2021. I feel great and bullish about this date as it gives us time for Disney to be fully operational in all their businesses – theme parks, hotels, cruise ships, but more importantly, it gives the world time to bounce back to living confidently, productively and joyously once again. Thank you, Disney leadership team. And thank you to all the fans worldwide. The movie will be worth the wait. Stay healthy, my friends. D @sevenbucksprod @flynnpictureco #junglecruise #summer 2021

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Apr 3, 2020 at 3:17pm PDT

The JUNGLE CRUISE delay is on the long end of delays due to COVID-19. The year long wait tops the 11 months that FAST & FURIOUS 9 was pushed off its Memorial Day release of this year due to the pandemic. NO TIME TO DIE, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE & MORBIUS were shifted seven months off their original dates and the Disney schedule shuffle probably had the biggest impact on Marvel which saw a chain reaction on the MCU's plans as BLACK WIDOW moved from May to November 2020, the original home for Marvel's ETERNALS. This resulted with nearly every upcoming MCU being pushed back as a result. The release date game is a tricky one and it has been made even more tricky as studios aim to re-date films that had to vacate their original dates.

Based on Disneyland's theme park ride of the same name, JUNGLE CRUISE follows riverboat captain (Johnson) and scientist (Blunt), that embark on an adventure that takes travelers though a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a dash of the supernatural to add more narrative to a film based on a theme park attraction. The film also stars Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti, Edgar Ramirez & Jack Whitehall.

We're YOU looking forward to Disney's JUNGLE CRUISE?