Jungle Cruise (film) Intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton travels from London to the Amazon jungle and enlists wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff’s questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila, his ramshackle, but charming, boat. Lily is determined 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 rain forest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank, and their fate, and mankind’s, hangs in the balance. Inspired by the Disney parks attraction. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Released July 30, 2021, in theaters (also in 3-D and IMAX) and on Disney+, following a July 24 premiere at Disneyland and July 28–29 international releases. Stars Dwayne Johnson (Frank), Emily Blunt (Lily), Edgar Ramírez (Aguirre), Jack Whitehall (McGregor Houghton), Jesse Plemons (Prince Joachim), Paul Giamatti (Nilo). 127 min. Score by James Newton Howard, with a reimagined version of “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica. A hundred crew members constructed the expansive port town of Porto Velho in and around a hilltop reservoir in Kauai, with fully realized interior sets used for filming. Makeup designer Joel Harlow had his work cut out for him with 400 background characters needing everything from sunburns to insect bites, and 65 tribespeople who needed simulated piercings, body paint, and tattoos. Frank’s pet jaguar, Proxima, was completely CG and created by the Weta Workshop in New Zealand, while the filmmakers turned to Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for the look of the conquistadors. Filmed in wide-screen format in Kauai, Hawai‘i, and at Blackhall Studios and Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta.
