Time for your daily wholesome quota to be met. Or at least, a wholesome quote packaged in with some airplay for Jumanji: The Next Level, the forthcoming sequel to the blockbuster reboot of the 90s romp. I don’t make the rules.
Danny DeVito, star of screens big and small, has joined the cast of this latest addition to a franchise you wouldn’t have associated with knockout box office figures before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson signed on. DeVito, as it happens, has had glowing words to say about his new co-star in an interview ComicBook.com as well, particularly with regard to another giant of cinema he’s had the pleasure of working with – Twins partner in crime Arnold Schwarzenegger. But perhaps not for the reason you think.
“I think Dwayne is bigger [than Arnold], you know? But they’re both packed with muscle. You can’t get any more muscle into those frames. And they’re both the sweetest guys you’d ever want to work with, so if you get a chance to work with some big, giant-ass guy, do it.”
There we have it. Dwayne Johnson is a huge softie with a heart as capacious as his frame. OK, I might be extrapolating a little. I nevertheless feel the cold winter air soften a touch at the thought of these low-flying aircraft hazards being loveable bears – the kind of bears that won Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar because they have so much love to share. I think that analogy works.
Scratch that. Maybe it’s just the image of Danny DeVito lining up alongside an actual giant – they got an entire film out of that gag. 92 minutes of cinema out of one joke. And, if Wikipedia is to be believed, the biggest paycheck of their careers (DeVito and Schwarzenegger in the aforementioned Twins).
Whatever the take home message of this interview fragment, it’s warm, festive and ensures that you’ll probably go check out Jumanji: The Next Level when it hits theaters on December 13th.