Any brand with even the merest sliver of earning potential is never truly over, especially when a big star expresses an interest, which is why the recent news that Dwayne Johnson was returning to the world of The Scorpion King was both completely unexpected but also hardly a surprise.
After all, The Mummy franchise that the spinoff was originally born from got a terrible sequel a decade later in Rob Cohen’s Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, while most people probably don’t even know that The Scorpion King spawned four follow-ups that all went straight to the deepest, darkest depths of the VOD market.
All we’ve heard about Johnson’s reboot so far is that it’ll be set in the modern day and presumably ignore everything that’s happened in canon since the 2002 original faded to black, and while the head of Seven Bucks Productions has been rumored for a role in the all-new Scorpion King pic, as of yet, there’s no official word on him getting back in front of the camera as Mathayus.
However, another of the original stars has now expressed an interest in returning to the fold. Kelly Hu played Cassandra in Chuck Russell’s enjoyable enough B-movie, and while she admits that she’d love to reprise her role, it sounds as though she’s only interested if Johnson throws on the unconvincing wig and takes center stage himself.
“He has this charisma that everybody wants to be a part of his world. Being able to work with him again at this stage he’s at now, when he’s one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, would be such an honor and be so fun to be able to get back in there and see how much he’s evolved.”
In terms of generating excitement among audiences, a reboot of The Scorpion King simply isn’t going to do it for a lot of people, regardless of whether or not Dwayne Johnson takes the lead, plays a supporting role or drops by for a cameo. But you never know, it might just turn out to be a worthy addition to the franchise nonetheless.
Published: Dec 27, 2020 10:32 am