Jungle Cruise
Jungle Cruise is a 2021 American fantasy adventure film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra from a screenplay written by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, and Michael Green. It is based on Walt Disney’s eponymous theme park attraction. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti, and follows the captain of a small riverboat who takes a scientist and her brother through a jungle in search of the Tree of Life.
Plans for a feature film based on the Jungle Cruise ride began in 2004, the project laid dormant until 2011, then that version fell through and Johnson joined in 2015. Blunt and the rest of the cast joined in 2018 in a revamped version, with filming taking place in Hawaii and Atlanta, Georgia, from May through September that year. One of the most expensive films ever made, the film had a budget of $200 million. Following a year of post-production and further a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jungle Cruise was released in the United States on July 30, 2021, simultaneously in theaters and digitally through Disney+ with Premier Access, with music composed by James Newton Howard.
The film was a financial failure, grossing $213 million against its $200 million budget. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Johnson and Blunt’s chemistry and the entertainment values, but criticized the screenplay and the abundance of CGI. A sequel is in development with Johnson and Blunt set to reprise their roles.
In 1556, Don Aguirre leads Spanish conquistadors to South America to search for Lágrimas de Cristal[b] Tree, whose flowers cure illness, heal injuries, and lift curses. After most conquistadors die, the Puka Michuna tribe heals the survivors with the Tree’s flowers. The tribal chief refuses to reveal the Tree’s location, so Aguirre stabs him and burns the village. The dying chief curses the conquistadors, making them immortal and unable to leave sight of the Amazon River; the jungle recaptures anyone attempting to escape.
In 1916 London, Dr. Lily Houghton’s Tears of the Moon research is presented by her brother, MacGregor, to the Royal Society, claiming that the Tree’s flowers could revolutionize medicine and aid the British war effort. The Houghtons request access to a recently acquired arrowhead artifact. Lily believes it and an old Amazon map are the key to finding the Tree. The society denies the request, believing the Tree is a myth and female scientists are inferior. Lily steals the arrowhead, narrowly evading Prince Joachim, an ambitious German royal also seeking the Tree.
Arriving in Brazil, Lily and MacGregor need a boat and a guide to take them down the Amazon. They hire skipper Frank Wolff, who offers cut-rate jungle cruises embellished with faked dangers and corny puns. Frank initially declines, saying the trip is too dangerous, but he reconsiders upon seeing the arrowhead. Frank steals back his repossessed boat engine, and the trio departs after escaping Joachim, who pursues them in a U-boat.
