Zathura is, in fact, loosely based on the children's book of the same name by one Christopher Van Allsburg, the writer of Jumanji. It is not, nor does it even profess to be, anything other than Jumanji in space.
Right, but I think it's significant that Chris Van Allsburg wrote another book that is essentially Jumanji in space (and it is indeed a sequel), rather than a movie studio saying, "Let's do Jumanji again, but in space!" I entertain the fond hope that this time they'll actually capture what made Jumanji such a wonderful book — something the Jumanji movie completely failed at, if it even tried.
In fact, the book Zathura was published in 2002, seven years after the movie Jumanji — it seems remarkably plausible to me that Chris Van Allsburg had this very thought: "Bother, I sold the movie rights to Jumanji and they made that! Copyright being what it is, nobody can make a better Jumanji movie right now, so I guess if I want one that doesn't suck, I'll have to write the book again — maybe in space this time?"
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Date: 2005-10-24 08:27 pm (UTC)In fact, the book Zathura was published in 2002, seven years after the movie Jumanji — it seems remarkably plausible to me that Chris Van Allsburg had this very thought: "Bother, I sold the movie rights to Jumanji and they made that! Copyright being what it is, nobody can make a better Jumanji movie right now, so I guess if I want one that doesn't suck, I'll have to write the book again — maybe in space this time?"