You have to admire Valiant Entertainment’s determination to get their planned cinematic universe up and running. They thought they were off to a good start by casting Vin Diesel in the lead role in Bloodshot, but the decision to release the movie just as the Coronavirus pandemic began to rapidly spread backfired on them, as it bombed at the box office before being swiftly released on digital two weeks later.
That being said, Bloodshot did manage to outsell fellow comic book movie disappointment Birds of Prey on home video, but that still might not be enough to ultimately turn a profit, even with the relatively modest $42 million budget. However, there’s already been speculation that Diesel might be consigned to the scrapheap, with plans reportedly in place to reboot the Valiant Cinematic Universe after just one installment.
We’ve previously revealed that the studio were setting their sights high and were interested in casting Will Smith as Ninjak, and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones that told us John Cena was being eyed for X-O Manowar, which he seemingly confirmed himself on social media – that Valiant are eyeing the biggest movie star in the world for a role.
According to our intel, Paramount are interested in having Dwayne Johnson play Eternal Warrior in the VCU, and are apparently adamant that the part be portrayed by a wrestler-turned-actor after initially pursuing Dave Bautista, who’s said to no longer be under consideration. Unfortunately for them, however, it seems doubtful that Johnson will have time to tackle the part.
Not only is he set to star in a comic book movie in the near future in the DCEU’s Black Adam, but he still has to finish Netflix actioner Red Notice, then presumably move onto sequels for Hobbs & Shaw and Jumanji, while also finding the time to promote Disney’s Jungle Cruise at some point next year. He’s a busy man that wields huge creative control over his projects, so a role in a franchise that’s already fallen at the first hurdle thanks to Bloodshot just doesn’t seem up his street at all.
But then again, who knows? Perhaps if they can reboot the series in an effective way and get it going on a good track, Dwayne Johnson will be persuaded to join at some point down the road.
