The film Zathura, however, deepens this story, thanks to the screenwriters David Koepp and John Kamps and the director Jon Favreau. If you didn’t already have the background outlined here, you’d never know Jumanji and Zathura were related. The film opens with two brothers, Walter (Hutcherson) and Danny (Jonah Bobo), watching as their single dad (Robbins) races off to work after having promised to spend time with them. Their teenage sister, Lisa (Stewart) is aloof and disinterested, falling asleep on the couch. 

After refusing to play ball with Danny and treating his little brother like he’s the most annoying creature to walk the earth, Walter turns on the television and drowns out his brother’s pleas. Left to his own devices, Danny wanders the house, exploring and investigating, and eventually finds an old board game called Zathura in the basement. He begins to play and gets a card from the game that warns of an impending meteor shower.