Although it was unofficially announced in early January, it is now confirmed that Awkwafina will be in the sequel to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ which just began filming. The scene stealer has made a splash in the past year+ for roles in ‘Ocean’s 8’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. She joins fellow newcomers Danny DeVito, and Danny Glover.
Awkwafina made the announcement via Instagram:
Returning for the sequel are Natt Wolfe/Dwayne Johnson as Spencer Gilpin/Dr. Smolder Bravestone; Ser’Darius Blain/Kevin Hart as Anthony “Fridge” Johnson/Franklin “Mouse” Finbar; Morgan Turner/Karen Gillan as Martha Kaply/Ruby Roundhouse; and Madison Iseman/Jack Black as Bethany Walker/Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon. Nick Jonas is also returning as video game character Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough, but it’s unlikely that his alter ego will be the same as in the first movie. Jake Kasdan returns to direct, after helming the first movie, which stands as Sony’s highest-grossing picture ever.
The roles that Awkwafina, DeVito, and Glover are playing are unknown.
In the first movie, four teenagers were given detention, and while cleaning out their school’s basement, they find a dusty old video game console. When they start to play it, they are sucked into the jungle adventure of ‘Jumanji’ and must play the game until the end in order to escape.
Awkwafina broke out as a rapper on Youtube and released an EP entitled ‘Yellow Ranger’ and hosted a chat show ‘Tawk’. She had a recurring role on Hulu’s ‘Future Man’, and appeared in the Netflix movie ‘Dude’. She will also appear in Jordan Peele’s upcoming science fiction series ‘Weird City’ on Youtube Premium. Following ‘Ocean’s 8’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, she became the second Asian-American woman to host ‘Saturday Night Live’.
The sequel to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ is now filming and is expected to be released on December 13.
Source: Deadline
