After popping up on the big screen a few years back with action-hero roles in fare like The Marine, 12 Rounds, Legendary and The Reunion, WWE champ John Cena is returning to the big screen with a role in Universal’s upcoming comedy The Nest, which will pair two-time Golden Globes hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (both of whom are stars of the highest order on the small screen thanks to Fey’s 30 Rock and Poehler’s Parks & Recreation) for the first time since 2008’s Baby Mama.
Details on Cena’s role in the film are being kept under wraps, but some sources report he’ll be playing a bad guy in the flick (definitely something new for the wrestler/actor/rapper). The Nest will center on two adult sisters (Fey and Poehler) who reunite at their childhood home and decide to throw one last giant rager there before their parents sell it. The party soon gets out of control, but it eventually turns into a cathartic experience for a group of world-weary, ground-down adults.
Silver-screen icon James Brolin is on board to star as the sisters’ father, while Neighbors actor Ike Barinholtz will play one of their neighbors who also serves as a love interest for Poehler’s character. Additionally, SNL alum Maya Rudolph, John Leguizamo, Madison Davenport (From Dusk till Dawn: The Series), Greta Lee (Girls) and Santino Fontana (Disney’s Frozen) have roles.
Jason Moore, who last helmed a capella comedy Pitch Perfect for Universal, will be directing The Nest from a script by SNL writer Paula Pell. With all the talent involved with this project, I honestly don’t see how The Nest could go wrong – it has an incredible cast, a proven director and a script by a key participant in one of the most enduring TV comedies of our times.
There’s only one problem – The Nest opens December 18th, 2015… alongside a little movie called Star Wars: Episode VII.