He’s faced down wrestling champions, giant reptiles, drug traffickers, car-racing mercenaries and the evil COBRA organization, but 2015 will find Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson taking on his most daunting opponent yet: Mother Nature. In Warner Bros.’s disaster flick San Andreas, he’ll play a rescue chopper pilot who travels across an earthquake-ravaged California in order to save his estranged daughter (Alexandra Daddario). Luckily, it looks like Johnson won’t be making the trek alone, with news that Carla Gugino has signed on for a major supporting part.
Gugino, known for her roles in Sin City and Watchmen, is set to play the ex-wife of Johnson’s character, who journeys with him from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their daughter after a gargantuan earthquake destroys California.
Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) is set to direct the film, from a script by Allan Loeb (21), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Carey and Chad Hayes (The Conjuring), Jeremy Passmore (Red Dawn) and Andre Fabrizio (The Prince). That’s a pretty talented team of writers, so hopefully San Andreas will arrive as more than just a special-effects extravaganza.
Few actors currently hold Johnson’s box-office clout and massive popularity. After getting his start in wrestling, he crossed over into Hollywood with a small role in The Mummy Returns, which led to his own spinoff, The Scorpion King. From there on out, Johnson’s career followed a steep upward trajectory with hits such as Race to Witch Mountain and Faster. He reached pop culture ubiquity after Fast Five and became the highest-grossing actor of 2013 thanks to four successful action vehicles: Fast & Furious 6, Snitch, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Pain & Gain.
Given his loyal fanbase, there’s no indication that San Andreas will be anything less than another hit in a long line of them for Johnson. Though the summer of 2015 is decidedly packed with blockbusters, the film is only going up against animated adventure B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, which bodes well for its box-office prospects.
San Andreas rumbles into theaters June 5th.
