for Den of Geek, Tim George called it "a terrific movie worthy of reappraisal" praising the witty, efficient script, sense of directorial whimsy, and focus on character over special effects. Favreau said the film wasn't released so much as it "escaped". He further described the experience: "After the highs of the success of Elf, Zathura was sobering and, though it was well-received by the critics and I learned a tremendous amount about visual effects, the grim reality of the movie business hit me like a bucket of cold water." Jack Black expressed interest in the possibility of the franchise returning to space. Hiram Garcia, a producer of the Jumanji sequels, said the game contained multiple universes and that the Bazaar introduced in the 2017 film was added to be a central hub for a larger game universe that the core characters would not know about, and that it could even go into space. Books The film is based on the illustrated children's book Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg and to tie-in with the film several other books were released including a novelization Zathura: The Movie – Junior Novel as well as several other activity and play books. Board game A board game that sought to mimic the film's eponymous game was released by Pressman Toy Corporation. Titled Zathura: Adventure is Waiting'', the game incorporated a spring-driven, clockwork card delivery mechanism, an astronaut, the Zorgons, the haywire robot and the disintegrating house in various ways. Video game A video-game tie-in was released on November 3, 2005, developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Games for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The games received "generally unfavorable reviews". References External links 2005 films 2000s children's adventure films 2000s children's fantasy films 2005 science fiction films Alternate timeline films American fantasy adventure films American science fantasy films American space adventure films Columbia Pictures films 2000s English-language films Films about board games Films about extraterrestrial life Films about siblings Film spin-offs Films based on children's books Films based on works by Chris Van Allsburg Films directed by Jon Favreau Films produced by Michael De Luca Films scored by John Debney Films with screenplays by David Koepp Jumanji Rings of Saturn in fiction 2000s fantasy adventure films Films produced by Scott Kroopf 2000s American films