Almost two years have passed since Dwayne Johnson announced plans to reunite with his San Andreas director Brad Peyton for Rampage, New Line’s blockbuster adaptation of the eponymous video game, but the project is now beginning to flicker into life.
The Hollywood Reporter brings word today that Naomie Harris, star of Skyfall and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, has inked a deal to star opposite Johnson as a talented geneticist with an unflinching moral code. Harris, who is hot off her Oscar-nominated turn in Moonlight, reportedly took a liking to Rampage‘s fun, wildly over-the-top script, which tells the story of three grossly mutated creatures – one gorilla, one alligator and a snarling wolf – who leave a trail of destruction and ruined monuments all across the US of A.
On paper, it sounds like a pitch befitting of Roland Emmerich, Hollywood’s go-to master of cinematic destruction, but New Line is keen to shake up the monster movie formula with Rampage. Ryan Engle is the brains behind the original screenplay, with revisions from Carlton Cuse, Ryan Condal and later Adam Sztykiel. If Brad Peyton is to be believed, the end product is shaping up to be an “emotional, scary” ride.
It’s going to be a lot more emotional, a lot scarier and a lot more real than you’d expect. So you look at that original concept about a lab that affects these animals and makes them rampage, and that’s the nugget.
Rampage is set to release April 20th, 2018. Elsewhere on New Line’s slate, the studio is eager to secure Peyton and Johnson for the long term, and we understand that a sequel to San Andreas is already simmering in the early stages of development. Stay tuned for more on that one.
Published: Jan 25, 2017 01:12 pm