The Rock might not be the most famous actor in the world, but at this exact moment, there are few personalities in Hollywood who can generate buzz and potential green lights faster. His presence can reenergize franchises, it can add millions to disaster film budgets, and it can apparently pull a sequel out of a ten-year-old film that was considered a box office disappointment.
During an interview with Collider about his upcoming film Lone Survivor, acclaimed director Peter Berg got to talking about The Rundown and admitted the project might not be as far in his rearview mirror as you might expect. He’s apparently been in communication with The Rock recently about doing a sequel. The ex-professional wrestler is supposedly on board, and he’s taking meetings with writers to find the right collaborative partner or partners to pull off his big idea for round two.
Obviously, Berg wasn’t willing to talk about what that idea might be, but it seems to involve someone other than Seann William Scott. Here’s the quote in question that would lead sensible people to come to that conclusion…
"I really want to do it. I’ve talked to Dwayne. I have an actor in mind that I can’t say that I want to work with Dwayne on it, and we want to do it."
If you haven’t seen The Rundown before, you should really get on that. The film follows The Rock who plays a retrieval expert. He goes into situations and either returns with people or merchandise, depending on what his somewhat shady boss recommends. For his final job, he heads to Brazil to pick up said boss’ son, played by Seann William Scott, and naturally, all hell breaks loose, creating plenty of fun action scenes, a monkey fight and even some laughs.
Had this film been made a few years ago, it almost certainly would have made a tidy profit. The Rock’s status has increased quite a bit in the last decade. That’s likely the impulse behind making a sequel, and with a character that operates as a bounty hunter, basically, the format can easily be adapted for different films that offer a unique case but the same basic vibe.
Here’s to hoping this actually gets done. Until then, you can remind yourself of the original Rundown by checking out the trailer below…
