10 Terrible Ideas That Became Great Movies

It cannot be overstated just how much of a fuss Jumanji fans kicked up when a sequel was announced less than a year after Robin Williams' tragic death.

Beyond some deeming it "too soon" to mount a Jumanji sequel following Williams' passing, there was the obvious opposition to a new film which couldn't feature him at all.

And by the time it was confirmed that the new Jumanji would switch out the board game for a video game, most had readily dismissed it as a soulless "soft reboot" nobody was asking for.

But what a pleasant surprise Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle turned out to be, largely due to its inspired central gimmick: the players being embodied by larger-than-life avatars within the game, crossed with a hilarious body-swap element.

The chemistry between the in-game cast was terrific, Jack Black genuinely gave one of the finest performances of his career, it was relentlessly fun and action-packed, and even circled back to the original Jumanji in a way that sincerely honoured it.

And beyond that, despite releasing mere days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it still grossed almost $1 billion globally. Who could've seen any of this coming?