Though 2015 is all but assured to be one of the most competitive summers in box office history, New Line has every reason to still be confident in the ability of their blockbuster, earthquake thriller San Andreas, to make waves. After all, it stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, one of the most consistently bankable action stars working today. In fact, Forbes named him 2013’s top-grossing actor, for the cumulative successes of Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Pain & Gain and Fast & Furious 6.
San Andreas will see Johnson playing a special-ops firefighter who journeys into San Andreas with his ex-wife (Carla Gugino) after “The Big One” hits, intent on rescuing his daughter (Alexandra Daddario). Now, New Line is rounding out the cast with some more familiar faces.
Archie Panjabi, who plays Kalinda on CBS’s The Good Wife, and Todd Williams, known for his roles as Connor Jordan on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries and Isaac Joiner on Fox’s short-lived procedural The Chicago Code, have both joined the cast of San Andreas in supporting roles. Panjabi will play an investigative reporter exploring the cause of the massive earthquake, while Williams will play Marcus Crowlings, one of Johnson’s character’s old Army buddies and also a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s rescue squad, who accompanies him on his quest to rescue his daughter.
Brad Peyton, who previously directed Johnson in well-received family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, is sitting behind the camera, working from a script accredited to Allan Loeb, Carlton Cuse, Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, Jeremy Passmore and Andre Fabrizio. All of those screenwriters bring something to the table – Loeb worked on high-stakes gambling drama 21, Cuse is known for gripping ABC drama Lost, the Hayes brothers helped to pen horror success The Conjuring, Passmore helped to write the action-heavy Red Dawn remake, and Fabrizio worked on the forthcoming Bruce Willis action-thriller The Prince.
San Andreas is set to rock theaters on June 5th, 2015. We’ll keep you posted on more casting news as it arises.
