Hollywood has been facing accusations of creative bankruptcy for decades, and the impending reboot of The Scorpion King neatly sums up the industry-wide problem in microcosm by virtue of the mere fact that it exists.
When you break it down, the project being produced by original star Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks banner is a reboot of a spinoff from the sequel to a remake that already saw four follow ups sent straight to home video, so who says there’s no originality in the business anymore?
There’s no word yet on whether or not Johnson will make an onscreen appearance in the modern day retelling of the mythos, but surely a cameo during a flashback will have at least been discussed given that an appearance from the star is guaranteed to generate a significant uptick in both interest and box office takings.
When The Scorpion King was first announced to be heading back to our screens, Academy Award nominated Straight Outta Compton scribe Jonathan Herman was hired to crack the story, and in a new interview Seven Bucks President of Production Hiram Garcia confirmed that the first draft has been handed in.
“We just got a first draft in and we’re having a polish done on it now. That’s such a beloved franchise, and like you alluded to, that entire world including The Mummy and Scorpion King are so much fun that we just want to continue telling stories in that space.”
The role of Mathayus was a pivotal one for Johnson, with his appearance in The Mummy Returns marking not just his maiden feature film outing, but a record fee for a first-time actor after he pocketed $5 million for showing up at the beginning of the movie, before returning in the third act as some of the worst CGI you’ll ever see.
He also netted the single largest paycheck for a talent in their first leading role when he landed $5.5 million for headlining The Scorpion King, so whoever ends up taking top billing in the reboot will be hoping to experience similar success.
