Jack Black and Nick Jonas – two of the stars of the upcoming “Jumanji” sequel – have paid tribute to the actor who led the original film – the late Robin Williams.
Describing Williams as a “sweet, sweet man,” Black said the late actor would “love” the movie. “He had a great sense of adventure. … It would have been amazing to work with him,” he said Sunday at a press event for the film in Barcelona, Spain.
Williams, who died in 2014, starred in the original 1995 movie as Alan Parrish, who was trapped in a board game for 26 years. The new film, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” shows where Parrish was all that time.
Jonas was a late addition to the cast and his character is yet to be revealed. He said it was important to the cast to “pay justice” to Williams. “I think it’s about trying to tell the story in a new and exciting way. And hopefully he would have liked it,” he said.
In the sequel, the board game from the original movie has been reimagined as a vintage video game, into which four teenagers are drawn. The teens become their video game avatars – played by Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Black.
“Twenty years have passed and obviously we have better special effects and a bigger budget. That’s why we were able to go into the jungles of Jumanji,” said Black.
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” will be released in December.