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.

Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti.

It tells the alternate history of the captain of a small riverboat who takes a scientist and her brother through a jungle in search of the Tree of life while competing against a German expedition, and cursed conquistadors.

Blunt and the rest of the cast joined in 2018 in a revamped version, with filming taking place in Hawaii and Georgia, from May through September that year.

The dying chief curses the conquistadors, making them immortal and unable to leave sight of the Amazon River without being dragged back by the jungle itself.

They request access to a recently acquired arrowhead artifact that Lily believes can locate the Tears of the Moon Tree but are denied.

They are captured by cannibals that are actually the Puka Michuna tribe who work for Frank as part of his contrived jungle cruise adventure.

Tribal chief Trader Sam translates the symbols on the arrowhead, revealing the Tree's location and that it only blooms under a blood moon.

Discovering the arrowhead is a locket containing a red gem, Lily inserts the two pieces into carvings in the bark; the Tree briefly blooms under the blood moon.

The German soldiers drown, Joachim is crushed by a falling rock, and Frank crashes his boat into the temple to block the river, petrifying himself and the rest of the conquistadors to save Lily.

Returning to Britain, Lily becomes a full professor at the University of Cambridge and sends McGregor on her behalf to reject an invitation to join the Royal Society.

Additionally, Verónica Falcón plays Trader Sam, the female chief of the Puka Michuna tribe in 1916,[23][24] who is a longtime friend of Frank's and knows about the curse.

The Puka Michuna tribe has a centuries-long history of guarding the Tree, but Sam does not know the exact location herself until Lily shows her the arrowhead.

The latter two conquistadors have the ability to dissolve into their constituent parts to rapidly move through the jungle, as well as maintain telepathic control of the creatures inhabiting their bodies.

[32] Following the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, the film was to take place sometime in the twentieth century and was loosely inspired by the theme park attraction of the same name which featured prominently in Disneyland's grand opening in 1955.

[35][36] In February 2011, it was announced that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, who had previously worked together in the Toy Story franchise, would star in the long-gestating film, with a script to be written by Roger S. H.

The previous script originally written by Goldstein and Norville would be rewritten by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra with the intention to harken back to its period roots.

[38] Johnson, who did a lot of research before getting into the role,[39] announced in April 2017 that he would co-produce the film under his Seven Bucks Productions,[40] and he expressed his interest in having Patty Jenkins helm the project.

[44] In March 2018, an open casting call was made for the other characters in the film, including men and women of all ethnicities between ages 17 to 90 and children between 6 and 14 years old.

[14] This would be the second incidence of a gay character in a live-action Disney film, the first being Le Fou, portrayed by Josh Gad, in the 2017 adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

[59] After seven weeks, the shoot then moved for a major course at Blackhall Studios, Atlanta, where a pool was set up in a large tank like the river, as well as the jungle in it.

[61] Paco Delgado said that while some of the suits are original from the twentieth century, the costumes for the main characters and the tribals were specially made for the film, for which he researched the cultures of different tribes in the Amazon.

[80][81] The 3D team made such effects like "light reflecting off the water, bugs flying around and dew glistening on leaves", so the film weather looks humid in the summer.

To animate it for the film, a collection of plates from big cats was used with most references taken from a female jaguar in San Diego Zoo, before its 3D modeling and sculpting, with details like a mark on her forehead, a folded-over ear, and the muscle and skin system.

The website's consensus reads: "Its craft isn't quite as sturdy as some of the classic adventures it's indebted to, but Jungle Cruise remains a fun, family-friendly voyage.

[106] Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman praised Johnson and Blunt's chemistry and said that the film is "a little good old-fashioned" and it "pelts the audience with entertainment in such a lively yet bumptious way that at times you may wish you were wearing protective gear".

[124] Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas of Double Toasted both gave it a relatively positive review; even going so far as to predict that other critics would negatively critique it simply because of its premise.

[125] Rolling Stone reviewer David Fear gave the film 2.5/5 stars and called it an "attempt to sell the Magic Kingdom's vintage" boat ride as "the next big endless-summer-movie thing", adding that "Blunt's tart apple crisp of a comic performance pairs nicely with Johnson's beefcake served with a side of ham.

"[126] In The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote a negative review that the film is a "soggy mess" with a "mostly unintelligible" plot, adding that it "exhibits a blatantly faux exoticism that feels as flat as the forced frisson between its two leads".

[128] After the release weekend of Jungle Cruise, Dwayne Johnson announced that discussions were underway with Walt Disney Pictures for a sequel,[138] which could answer many questions left behind in the film.