‘Jungle Cruise’ Navigates turning the ride into a highly enjoyable trip

DISNEY studio’s latest feature film, “Jungle Cruise,” docked with some good results at the box office this weekend. Overall, the film, which is based on the beloved Disney theme park — rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon, notched more than US$90 million thanks to theatre showings and streaming.

The film stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff, and Emily Blunt as intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton on an adventure of a lifetime on Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” downriver the Amazon on La Quila—his ramshackle-but-charming boat.

Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’s services to guide Lily to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities—possessing the power to change the future of medicine.

Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the film opened which opened on July 28, 2021 in France, garnered an estimated US$61.8 million at the worldwide box office, which includes a better than expected US$34.2 million at domestic theatres.

The film was also released simultaneously on streaming via Disney+’s Premier Access for an additional charge of US$29.99 — which brought in an additional US$30 million globally on the digital platform.

In a pre-Covid world, a US$61 million global theatrical opening for a film with a hefty production budget of US$200 million, which would have been nothing to write home about.

But we aren’t living in a pre-Covid world. Movie theatres are still trying to reach normalcy, box office numbers have been hit and miss — and “Jungle Cruise” is in the middle of growing concerns regarding the spreading Delta variant.

Adding streaming numbers to the mix complicates things even further in terms of the film’s success.

One can conclude that those watching on Disney+ ate into the film’s theatre ticket sales. You could also laud Disney for being able to bring in US$30 million more, thanks to the video streaming channel — and both would be correct.

All in, bringing in more US$30 million on streaming is a welcome boost. Now, Disney and theatres will wait to see how the film does in the weeks to come.