Netflix have been making some serious inroads into the blockbuster game in recent years, with Michael Bay’s $150 million 6 Underground replicating the action auteur’s typical formula of mixed reviews and huge audiences, while Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction recently debuted on the streaming service to a hugely positive reception. Not ones for resting on their laurels when it comes to creating new content though, Netflix have also appeared to strike up a working relationship with the world’s biggest movie star.
While production is currently on hold due to the Coronavirus pandemic, when the industry gets the all-clear to resume shooting, Dwayne Johnson will head back to work on Red Notice, a globe-trotting heist thriller that sees him star alongside fellow A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot in what promises to be Netflix’s biggest original movie yet. Of course, Johnson is already regarded by many as the hardest-working man in the business, and he’s living up to that reputation by adding yet another project onto his typically-packed slate with the news that he’s set to remain in the world of streaming and star alongside Emily Blunt in comic book adaptation Ball and Chain, which has now found a home at Netflix.
The source material might not be too familiar to more causal audiences, but it still has one hell of a high concept. Ball and Chain will star Johnson and Blunt as a bickering married couple on the brink of divorce, before a crashing meteor ends up granting them superpowers. However, the catch is that their newfound abilities only work when they’re together, forcing them to face their marital problems head-on while also trying to save the world.
There’s no director attached just yet, but the script is set to come from Emily V. Gordon, who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay after writing The Big Sick alongside husband Kumail Nanjiani, and if the footage we’ve seen from Disney’s delayed Jungle Cruise is anything to go by, Johnson and Blunt have more than enough onscreen chemistry to make Ball and Chain one of the most unique and exciting superhero movies currently in development.