Dwayne Johnson is returning to the dodgy movie that kickstarted his Hollywood career as he’s working on rebooting The Scorpion King.
We shouldn’t worry Johnson (an incredibly better actor now than back then) isn’t starring but will be producing it instead.
Deadline broke the story that Johnson, under his Seven Bucks Production banner with Dany Garcia, will be working with Universal Picture on bringing this reboot to life with Straight Outta Compton writer Jonathan Herman tasked in penning the script.
The US trade states that with Johnson fully booked until 2022, Universal will be looking for a new action hero and a director to helm the project, but the hope his Johnson’s love for the property may mean an appearance could be squeezed once production starts.
In case you have the good fortune of never seeing the original film, it followed a desert warrior that rises up against the evil army that is destroying his homeland. The plot for this new take is being kept under wraps, but one source to Deadline says unlike the original it will be set in modern times.
Understandably the character is close to Johnson’s heart making his acting debut in The Mummy Returns and turning to the spinoff that kickstarted his start to stardom.
This was adamant for Johnson when rebooting the property stating “The Scorpion King was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I’m honoured and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation.
“I wouldn’t have had the career I’m lucky enough to have had it not been for The Scorpion King and I’m thrilled that we at Seven Bucks Productions can help create those same opportunities for other hardworking actors today” added Johnson.
This point shows me that Johnson and co will be looking for an unknown actor, but I think there’s one actor I think would genuinely grab the role with both hands and be incredible.
The actor that comes to mind is Mena Massoud.
The Egyptian-Canadian hasn’t had any opportunities following being the lead of the billion-dollar live-action Aladdin!! He has proven he can be the main man and needs the chance to continue to prove how great of an actor he is and working under Johnson could be a smart career move.
The Bear Cave 