Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a sort of backdoor sequel to the original Jumanji starring Robin Williams.
People were going to be interested to see how this follow-up worked, especially since it was known beforehand that the new movie would pay tribute to the original in some way.
As it turns out, that was something people wanted to see.
While the original film wasn’t a massive hit, it certainly had its fans, and the fact that it starred the now departed Williams has caused it to have a special place in the heart of audience members of a certain age.