Jungle Cruise — the Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt-led fantasy adventure movie — will release November 12 on Disney+ Hotstar, Gadgets 360 has learnt. The Disney movie is out now in cinemas worldwide and released Friday, July 30 on Disney+ Premier Access in most Disney+ markets. The latter involves a $30 (roughly Rs. 2,230) or equivalent fee on top of your Disney+ monthly subscription. But since Disney+ Premier Access is not an option on Disney+ Hotstar (that is also in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand), Jungle Cruise will only be available in India once it leaves Premier Access — and that’s November 12. And while some Hollywood studios are releasing films in Indian cinemas now, Disney is content with sitting on the sidelines it seems.
The November 12 Disney+ Hotstar release date for Jungle Cruise is curiously more than the standard three-month gap between Disney+ Premier Access and Disney+ Hotstar. In the past, Disney’s live-action reimagining of Mulan released September 4 on Disney+ Premier Access, and then arrived December 4 on Disney+ Hotstar. Its latest animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon, released March 5 in Indian cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access, and was made available June 4 on Disney+ Hotstar. The Emma Stone-led Cruella premiered May 28 on Disney+ Premier Access, and is now slated for August 27 (as I’d predicted) on Disney+ Hotstar. It’s unclear why Disney is holding onto Jungle Cruise as a Premier Access title for two additional weeks than it otherwise does.
Watch: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt in Disney’s Jungle Cruise Trailer
There’s an exception to the rule here: Black Widow. The Marvel movie released July 9 on Disney+ Premier Access, and is expected in August on Disney+ Hotstar. But that’s only happening because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is huge in India. I don’t expect Disney to make that same exception for Jungle Cruise.
Johnson and Blunt respectively star as steamboat captain Frank “Skipper” Wolff and eccentric scientist Dr. Lily Houghton on Jungle Cruise, a World War I-era adventure into the Amazonian jungles to find the Tree of Life — the film is based on Disney’s theme park ride of the same name. Jungle Cruise also stars Jack Whitehall as Lily’s younger brother McGregor Houghton, Édgar Ramírez as the mercenary Aguirre leading a rival expedition, Jesse Plemons as deranged German aristocrat Prince Joachim, and Paul Giamatti as harbourmaster Nilo Nemolato. Veronica Falcón, Dani Rovira, Quim Gutiérrez, and Andy Nyman also have roles on Jungle Cruise.
Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) is the director on Jungle Cruise, working off a screenplay written by Michael Green (Logan), Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Focus). Johnson is also a producer on Jungle Cruise alongside John Davis, John Fox, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, and Hiram Garcia, with Scott Sheldon and Doug Merrifield serving as executive producers. Jungle Cruise is a production of Walt Disney Pictures, Davis Entertainment, Seven Bucks Productions, and Flynn Picture Company. The Disney movie was made on an estimated budget of $200 million (about Rs. 1,485 crores).
From Black Widow to Jungle Cruise, What to Watch This July
Here’s the official synopsis for Jungle Cruise, from Disney:
Join fan favourites Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt for the adventure of a lifetime on Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” a rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton. Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’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 rainforest. 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.
Jungle Cruise is out November 12 on Disney+ Hotstar, and Disney+ (without Premier Access). If you want to watch it now, you can spend Rs. 699 for a month of Disney+, Rs. 2,699 on Jungle Cruise ‘Premier Access,’ and a bit more on a VPN to watch it on Disney+.
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