Dwayne Johnson says 'Jumanji' reboot will honor Robin Williams

LOS ANGELES, May 10 (UPI) -- Dwayne Johnson says the forthcoming Jumanji reboot will pay tribute to Robin Williams.

The 44-year-old actor promised fans as much in an Instagram post Monday after starting work on the movie. Williams, who died at age 63 in 2014, played Alan Parrish in the original 1995 film.

"And the #Jumanji magic begins," Johnson wrote. "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."

"An important thing that I want to be honest and bring up is Robin Williams," he added. "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."

"I have an idea of what to do and I think his family will be proud," the star revealed. "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."

Johnson will produce and star in the remake, which opens July 28, 2014. Kevin Hart, who will co-star with the actor in Central Intelligence, and Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man in the Marvel cinematic universe, are rumored for the film.

"Shooting starts this fall," Johnson revealed when he announced his attachment to the movie in April . "Promise to deliver something cool and special.. and not screw the whole thing up. As always I'll keep you posted. Casting this should be fun!"

Jumanji is based on the Chris Van Allsburg children's book of the same name, which centers on a magical board game that brings animals and other jungle dangers to life. The original film earned over $262 million at the box office.

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. 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. 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. We got a great team assembled already over at our home base of SONY and now we build from here. Here's another fun part... in the original movie there were three big roles. In our new story there's now FIVE. Been so damn cool to see all my actor buddies push their projects aside so hopefully they can come play in our world. Should have cool casting announcements this week. Will keep you posted. #TheMagicBegins #JustPressStart #JUMANJI
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A photo posted by therock (@therock) on May 9, 2016 at 10:23am PDT