The Rock Says Jumanji Remake Will Honour Robin Williams

When the decision was made to remake Jumanji, the Internet erupted in the usual furious fanboy manner: there was wailing, there was teeth-gnashing, there were spontaneous fires in the streets... Well, you would have thought so anyway. When Robin Williams died, the decision looked like a besmirchment of his memory - a mark of disrespect seeking to write him out of one of his most beloved moments in history, to feed Hollywood's need to remake everything.

Except the original Jumanji isn't all that great is it? The concept is exceptional - as it was in the original book - and some of the story-telling was excellent. Even Robin Williams' performance as the tragically trapped Alan Parish was good, without ever being anywhere close to his best work. The film is just remembered in far more glowing terms than it perhaps deserves. It's good, yes, but it is by no means a classic and the decidedly iffy CGI proves that an update is actually welcome.

Still, fans will be annoyed because of the context of Williams' tragic death. But luckily new Jumanji star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has said that the remake will be careful not to disrespect Williams' memory, in an Instagram post that coincided with the start of production.

"An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams. The love and respect I have for this man is boundless. You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of "Alan Parrish" will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of JUMANJI in an earnest and cool way. I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud."

Quite rightly, he also opened by talking about readapting the source, rather than simply remaking the film, confirming that there are now five lead roles instead of three (there were actually four, but he's a big guy and I'm not going to call him out on it):

"And the #JUMANJI magic begins. Excellent meeting with our director Jake Kasdan, producer Matt Tolmach, and our @SevenBucksProd team to work on our new re-imagining of this amazing story. I felt like in order to craft something cool we should begin where it all started. Award winning writer Chris Van Allsburg's source material of JUMANJI. Chris also wrote THE POLAR EXPRESS (later adapted by Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks) and has a very special & magical way of storytelling. I'm feelin' good and confident stepping into these shoes as a producer as well as actor to bring you something great that you and your entire fam can enjoy."

Johnson also remembered meeting Williams

"I also think Robin is somewhere lookin' down and laughing, remembering the first time we met backstage and I (for the first time ever) was a star struck bumbling idiot that couldn't even get my words out. Idiot. He literally calmed me down w/ that smile and laugh. But that's for another fun story down the road."

The Rock says we should all expect some casting news this week, so no doubt we'll see more on his Instagram in the coming days.

Are you excited to see the Jumanji remake? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.