Lately, Dwayne Johnson has been showing off his muscular physique by Tweeting photos from the set of the Hercules movie. Between Brett Ratner's anticipated action film, his wrestling commitments and the Fast & Furious franchise, it's a wonder The Rock has time to squeeze anything else into his schedule. And yet, he continues to do so, or he's trying to anyway. Word is, Johnson is in talks to star in New Line's 3D disaster thriller San Andreas.
The Wrap says multiple sources report that Johnson is in final negotiations to star in San Andreas. The 3D film is set in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California. Assuming this deal goes through, The Rock will play a man who travels across the state to rescue his daughter. If the plot sounds familiar, you may have seen any other disaster movie involving a Dad racing to rescue his kid, as this plot has been known to happen in some form or another in movies when natural disaster strikes. (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and Volcano all come to mind). Maybe Dad and Daughter have a bad relationship. Maybe things went south with Mom, and now Dad's working hard to make amends, and playing the hero on the worst day ever could just do the trick. We're not really sure what the story is there, but does it matter? It's The Rock. In 3D!
The Wrap also says that Brad Peyton will direct the film. Peyton's credits include Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and more relevant to this news, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which just so happened to star Johnson. Johnson's IMDB Page lists the sequel to Journey 2 among his credits, but it's only in the "announced" phase, and undated. Also among his listed upcoming credits are Fast & Furious 7, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, Lore and (possibly?) Wrestlemania XXX, all of which are expected to arrive in 2014. This San Andreas rumor indicates that the actor/wrestler isn't slowing down anytime soon, and as a fan of The Rock (and the the People's Eyebrow in particular), I won't complain.
We learned that San Andreas was in the works at New Line back in 2011. As The Wrap points out, the project's script has seen multiple drafts since then, including one from Carlton Cuse. The latest draft was done by The Conjuring's Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio. Assuming the script is ready, the film now needs a star, and it would certainly have one in The Rock, who has proven to be particularly successful in his efforts to transition from celebrated pro wrestler to action star, who's also still wrestling.
Here's one of his recent Tweets from the Hercules set:
