Dwayne Johnson is one of the most prominent actors in Hollywood today. He has so many upcoming projects in the works that it can be hard to keep track of all of them, but The Rock hasn't done everything in Hollywood quite yet. In fact, he recently revealed that his upcoming movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle will be a first for him, for one super fun reason: He's never actually gotten to release a movie during the Christmas season, before. Per Dwayne Johnson:
I've never had the privilege of having a movie come out during Christmas. When you have a Christmas movie come out, I think that you have a responsibility, make sure it's good.
Dwayne Johnson burst onto the big screen back in 2001 with a role in The Mummy Returns, which in turn gave him his big break in The Scorpion King. Apparently, in all of that time, Dwayne Johnson has been seen as a man behind summer blockbusters and movies that have been released at off times rather than during the holiday season. He's never, ever gotten the gift of a Christmas release, according to his own words.
The Mummy Returns, Walking Tall, the Fast and the Furious franchise movies he's been in and The Scorpion King were released in April. Gridiron Gang got a September release. Tooth Fairy got a January release. Moana, a movie in which Dwayne Johnson does a lot of voice work, got a holiday release, but it was during the Thanksgiving holiday. Baywatch and San Andreas were both early summer releases in May. We could go on about his movies for a while, but the point is, he's a guy that has been entrusted by the studios to headline movies, but he hasn't been a guy that has gotten a movie to come out during the Christmas season, before.
The actor spoke to ABC News about how the Christmas release would be a first for him. He also expressed a like for filming the movie in Hawaii, noting that he had lived there before hard times forced his family to move when he was younger. So, there seems to be a lot of sentiment around the making of the Jumanji reboot for Dwayne Johnson.
By all accounts, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an entertaining venture. Early reactions have seemed to indicate the movie is fun. If that goodwill translates into box office numbers, perhaps this will be an indication that Dwayne Johnson can sell a Christmas movie, after all. Of course, this time around he'll have some help from Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens on December 20. Head here for more details on all of the movie projects Dwayne Johnson has coming up, or check out our full schedule of the holiday movies that are coming to theaters soon.
