Jumanji: Open World received high praise from the press and CinemaCon 2026 attendees, and they are all saying the same thing about the Dwayne Johnson-led movie. The upcoming adventure comedy is the third installment in Sony Pictures' modern Jumanji reboot series. It flips the franchise's formula with a high-stakes, reality-bending premise: the chaotic world of Jumanji escapes the video game and slips into the real world. To prevent the madness, the original gang of characters must work together with their teenage counterparts to save both realities.
The first reactions to Jumanji: Open World emerged online after Sony Pictures showed footage from its CinemaCon 2026 panel to attendees in April 2026. The reactions had a clear consensus: they all praised the sequel's trailer as "fun," mainly for its ambitious scope, hilarious new twists, and creature invasions that paid tribute to the 1995 original film, led by the late Robin Williams.
Brandon Davis delivered a detailed description of the footage, confirming that Lamorne Morris' character discovered the old video game console in a basement and, unexpectedly, unleashed the mayhem.
Danny DeVito's character was shocked to see Dwayne Johnson's Dr. Bravestone with an "overly sexy Latino accent," and the characters and animals are stuck in "demo mode" in the real world. Overall, Davis declared that Jumanji: Open World is "ambitious and funny," and very different from its predecessors:
"It looks like a blast. Ambitious and funny and different from its predecessors."
Jeff Sneider highlighted a potential challenge Jumanji: Open World could face, noting that its Christmas 2026 release falls in the same timeframe as the premiere of HBO's Harry Potter series. Still, he couldn't hide his enthusiasm for the film's comedic highlights, such as Dwayne Johnson's "goofy accent:"
"'JUMANJI: OPEN WORLD' finds DJ using a goofy accent and speaking Spanish with Kevin. It's set for release on Christmas Day... the same day HBO debuts its 'Harry Potter' series. I'm not sure it'll be as big as the other entries, but we'll see."
Coy Jandreau focused on the big-picture appeal of Jumanji: Open World, underscoring how the footage successfully blended the modern video-game era with "story elements of the classic [Jumanji movie]:"
"Scope of new JUMANJI, with story elements of the classic, looks really fun!"
Gizmodo's Germain Lussier had a one-sentence description of Jumanji: Open World after seeing the footage, promising that it "looks very fun:"
"Jumanji: Open World looks very fun."
FlickDirect highlighted the cast's visible excitement for the upcoming installment while noting that the footage felt like "the franchise is going back to its roots:"
"Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart say they’re excited to be back for the next chapter of Jumanji 3. From the footage shown, it looks like the franchise is going back to its roots, with the animals coming home."
The HoloFiles made it clear in their reaction that Jumanji: Open World "looks like a lot of fun" and "everyone had a good time making it:"
"The official title of the new JUMANJI movie is 'JUMANJI: OPEN WORLD.' The trailer shows the game accidentally break into the real world, including the characters played by Johnson, Hart, Gillan, and Black. The movie looks like a lot of fun. Clearly, everyone had a good time making it."
Entertainment reporter Jonathan Sim offered a comparative take after seeing multiple presentations. While he found the Spider-Man: Brand New Day footage largely expected, he singled out Jumanji as a "great first look" from CinemaCon 2026:
"Spider-Man was amazing but mostly stuff I could figure out from the trailer. Jumanji was a great first look."
Omelete, a major Brazilian entertainment site, gave a description of the trailer footage they saw at CinemaCon 2026, providing fans with a preview of the chaos and comedic bits that will ensue on the big screen:
"The trailer starts with a person going to check out a video game that's Jumanji! He activates it, and the Jumanji world comes to Earth! The game's characters, The Rock, appear in the real world. Kevin Hart, too! They act like video game characters and speak in Spanish! They run like NPCs, talk like NPCs. Rock and Hart argue in Spanish - that was funny. They start exploring things on Earth, New York, forests, Mountains, rhinoceroses on farms! At the end of the trailer we see that they enter the game again!"
Renowned film and TV journalist Scott Menzel kept his reaction short and sweet, echoing similar sentiments by saying that Jumanji: Open World "looks like so much fun:"
"Jumanji Open World looks like so much fun. I love this franchise so much."
Early reactions paint Jumanji: Open World as a high-energy, comedic evolution of the franchise, blending the real-world stakes of the original with the avatar-driven comedy of the reboots. The reactions also suggested that Sony is poised to add another crowd-pleasing holiday hit to its arsenal.
Jumanji: Open World features a stacked cast, headlined by returning main stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Danny DeVito, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, and many more. The film is set to arrive in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25.
Why Fans Should Be Excited For Jumanji: Open World
Jumanji: Open World is being viewed as the ambitious finale to the modern Jumanji reboot trilogy, and early reactions suggest that it could be the most fun entry yet.
Aside from being infused with fun and character-driven elements, the franchise is heating up at the perfect time with fresh, hilarious twists like Dwayne Johnson's sexy Spanish accent, multiple versions of the main characters, and avatars running like NPCs through the real world.
The movie also embraces a true open-world feel with its core premise of creatures invading the city, amplified by reality-blending set pieces. By paying tribute to Robin Williams and his classic 1995 movie, Jumanji: Open World feels like a respectful bridge between generations without feeling forced.
All in all, Jumanji: Open World's act of flipping the formula amplifies the chaos and leans fully into what made the movies a global hit. If anything, this could be the franchise's best and perfect send-off yet.
