Dwayne Johnson’s furious row with Busted star over Jumanji sequel: ‘Like real men’

Dwayne Johnson returns in the 2019 hit Jumanji: the Next Level, which airs tonight from 8pm on Channel 4. Also known as The Rock, Johnson heads an all-star cast, with the likes of Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Danny Glover, Danny DeVito and Nick Jonas all appearing in the fantasy adventure. It is set two years after the events of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and follows the story of how the film’s teenagers must return to the video game in order to rescue one of their own.

However, upon arrival the players are stunned when they realise everything about the game, and even themselves, has changed.

The film was a commercial and critical success, with reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 71 percent approval rating.

Writing on its site, the flick was compared to “many classic games,” as it “retains core components of what came before while adding enough fresh bits to keep things playable”.

In a separate review, Peter Debruge, of Variety, added: “More often than not, effects-driven blockbusters get dumber as the series goes along, but Jumanji: The Next Level invents some fun ideas to keep things fresh.”

While many viewers were left enticed by the sequel, it left some fans unhappy with how the franchise had developed since its initial incarnation in 1995.

The original, titled simply Jumanji, starred the likes of Robin Williams, becoming a children’s favourite almost-overnight.

Among those to offer their disappointment at Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, was Busted guitarist Charlie Simpson.

At first, Johnson wrote to his legion of fans to promote the second film, posting in 2018: “DECEMBER 13th, 2019. The game is not over… And I get to slap @KevinHart4real’s lips into next week. The world is once again VERY happy. #JUMANJI.”

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This led Simpson to respond: “Oh dear… I wonder if it will be the second worst film ever made?? @mattjwillis.”

The tweet added in his friend, and bandmate, Matt Willis, who became a household name for his exploits in, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!.

In response, Johnson lashed out at Simpson, unleashing a threat at the artist, and said: “Haha I have a fun idea – how bout you watch it with us and tell us your thoughts.

“Then we listen to your music and we’ll tell you ours.

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“You know, face to face like real men do instead of yapping on Twitter.”

After being added into a reply to Johnson’s tweet, Simpson quickly defended his comments, lavishing praise on the former WWE star in the process.

Simpson added: “Haha sorry to disappoint but I don’t do Twitter ‘beef’, it’s lame.

“I actually think @TheRock seems like a really rad dude. Just wasn’t a fan of the movie. Subjective opinions and all that. Respect none the less.”

Willis also got in on the action, concluding: “The Rock is my favourite actor/person/idol EVER!!!”

More recently, Johnson shared with his millions of Instagram followers how proud he was that his daughter Jasmine, six, had graduated kindergarten.

The 50-year-old star was clearly a proud father as he posed for a series of photographs alongside Jasmine in her school classroom.

He wrote this week: “My lil’ loving tornado is first grade bound and I’m SO PROUD of her and all her fellow ‘kinders’ in her class who completed their first year of school.”

Jumanji: the Next Level airs tonight from 8pm on Channel 4.