NEED TO KNOW
- Dwayne Johnson shared some behind-the-scenes details about the Robin Williams tribute in the upcoming Jumanji movie
- The film, which is set to be the final installment in the franchise, is currently in production
- Johnson, 53, caught up with PEOPLE at the Golden Globes First-Time Nominee Celebration in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 17
Dwayne Johnson is sharing some behind-the-scenes details about his touching Easter egg tribute to the late Robin Williams in the upcoming Jumanji movie.
Johnson, 53, caught up with PEOPLE at the Golden Globes First-Time Nominee Celebration at the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 17. He was one of a number of stars at the event, which celebrated first-time nominees and their remarkable achievements.
During the conversation, the actor explained that he knew he wanted to honor Williams, who died in 2014 at the age of 63, in the fourth and final installment of the franchise — but he wasn’t sure how.
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“It was my idea to honor him in some way, and I didn’t know how to do it,” Johnson recalled. “And our costume designer, L.J. [Laura Jean Shannon] … goes, ‘What if I got the original dice [from the first movie]?’ And that’s what happened.”
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In a November Instagram clip, Johnson revealed that he opted to wear the dice around his neck throughout the duration of filming.
“Little day one of Jumanji excitement. That was cool,” Johnson said as he drove a golf cart on the Universal Studios lot past a group of people taking a tour of the studio lot. After the actor said he was happy to be filming a movie in Los Angeles for the first time since “I don’t know when,” he motioned to the dice necklace he was wearing.
“As you see, a little Easter egg for Dr. Bravestone. This is the dice from the original Jumanji with Robin Williams, as a show of respect,” Johnson added, as he greeted another group at Universal Studios and stepped out of the golf cart. “And a way of honoring Robin and this entire franchise that he started as we film our very last Jumanji. Big finale. Here we go, let’s shoot!”
Williams famously costarred with Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, David Alan Grier and Bonnie Hunt in the original 1995 Jumanji movie. He played a man named Alan, who gets stuck inside the magical titular board game for 26 years until two children rediscover the game and accidentally summon him back into the real world.
Johnson joined the Jumanji series for its 2017 reboot Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. He costars with Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan in the more recent movie, which sees a group of teenagers get sucked into Jumanji — which is now a video game — and morph into adult players. Welcome to the Jungle spawned a sequel titled Jumanji: The Next Level in 2019.
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Hart, 46, Gillan, 38, and Black, 56, are all returning for the final film alongside Johnson, per photos on the movie’s official Instagram.
The next Jumanji movie is scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 11, 2026.
