The ’90s Blockbuster That Kicked Off a Franchise Quietly Becomes a Free Streaming Hit Ahead of New Sequel

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A popular fantasy adventure film is now gaining traction as a streaming success. Since being added to Tubi earlier this month, it has quickly climbed to become one of the platform’s most-watched titles.

According to FlixPatrol, the Robin Williams movie Jumanji (released in 1995) is currently the tenth most popular film on Tubi in the United States. It’s one of only two family movies in the top 10, alongside Ron’s Gone Wrong at number four (up three spots from yesterday). The rest of the top five are all action movies: number one, Men in Black at number two, Prey at number three, and Geostorm at number five.

Directed by Joe Johnston, the movie Jumanji is based on Chris Van Allsburg’s popular 1981 children’s book of the same name. The film revolves around a magical board game that unleashes dangerous jungle challenges whenever someone plays.

Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt star as Alan Parrish and Sarah Whittle, who start playing the game Jumanji in 1969. When Alan gets pulled into the game, Sarah doesn’t finish, leaving him trapped. Twenty-six years later, siblings Judy and Peter Shepherd discover the game in their attic and begin playing, which finally frees Alan. But now, the jungle from the game is loose in their town, and Alan, Sarah, Judy, and Peter must finish Jumanji to restore everything to normal.

Though it seems a bit old-fashioned now, the 1995 movie Jumanji was groundbreaking for its special effects, especially how it brought the jungle animals to life. It was a huge success, earning $263 million around the world on a $65 million budget.

Dwayne Johnson Rebooted Jumanji as a Major Blockbuster Franchise

The movie Jumanji has become popular again recently, largely due to the successful reboot released in 2017, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. This sequel to the 1995 film was a surprise hit, earning nearly a billion dollars worldwide. The new movie updated the story for a modern audience, changing the game from a board game to a video game. Unlike the original, where the jungle came to the players, this time the players were pulled into the game itself.

Inside the game, players were represented by avatars played by Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. Rhys Darby and Bobby Cannavale played characters within the game world, and Nick Jonas played a person who had been stuck in Jumanji since 1996.

Following the success of Welcome to the Jungle, a sequel called The Next Level was released in 2019 and also performed well at the box office, earning $800 million globally. A third film is currently planned for release in theaters in December 2026.

Jumanji is available to stream for free on Tubi.

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2026-01-09 23:10