Tagline: A new adventure from the world of Jumanji.
“Zathura” is the story of two young brothers who are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space. The story is based on the book Zathura by children’s author Chris Van Allsburg.
An intergalactic world of wonder is waiting just outside your front door in Columbia Pictures’ heart-racing sci-fi family film Zathura: A Space Adventure.
Zathura: A Space Adventure is the story of two squabbling brothers who are propelled into deepest, darkest space while playing a mysterious game they discovered in the basement of their old house.
Now, they must overcome their differences and work together to complete the game or they will be trapped in outer space forever. After their father (Tim Robbins) leaves for work, leaving them in the care of their older sister (Kristen Stewart), six year-old Danny (Jonah Bobo) and ten-year old Walter (Josh Hutcherson) either get on each other’s nerves or are totally bored.
When their bickering escalates and Walter starts chasing him, Danny hides in a dumbwaiter. But Walter surprises him, and in retaliation, lowers Danny into their dark, scary basement, where he discovers an old tattered metal board game, “Zathura.” After trying unsuccessfully to get his brother to play the game with him, Danny starts to play on his own.
From his first move, Danny realizes this is no ordinary board game. His spaceship marker moves by itself and when it lands on a space, a card is ejected, which reads: “Meteor shower, take evasive action.” The house is immediately pummeled from above by hot, molten meteors.
When Danny and Walter look up through the gaping hole in their roof, they discover, to their horror, that they have been propelled into deepest, darkest outer space. And they are not alone. So begins an exhilarating, sometimes frightening, but always unpredictable adventure. Danny and Walter realize that unless they finish the game they’ll be trapped in outer space forever. With every turn, they confront one incredible obstacle after another: They accidentally put their sister Lisa into a deep cryonic sleep, are chased by a crazed, malfunctioning six-foot robot, rescue a stranded astronaut (Dax Shepard) and are besieged by lizard-like, carnivorous creatures called Zorgons.
With the help of the astronaut, Danny and Walter begin to put their petty fraternal differences aside, work together to overcome the obstacles they encounter and attempt to finish the game so they can go home. But all their efforts may be in vain when they face their biggest challenge of all — a battle against an intense gravitational pull into the void of the dark planet Zathura.
Production notes provided by Sony Pictures.
Zathura: A Space Adventure
Starring: Tim Robbins, Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Screenplay by: John Kamps, David Koepp
Release Date: November 11, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG for fantasy action and peril, and some language.
Studio: Sony Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $29,258,869 (45.5%)
Foreign: $35,062,632 (54.5%)
Total: $64,321,501 (Worldwide)