It goes without saying that Dwayne Johnson is one of the most recognizable, successful, popular, and highest-paid movie stars on the planet, but is he a good actor?
The question has dogged the former professional wrestler ever since he first swapped the squared circle for the silver screen, and while he’s undeniably got charisma for days and has perfected his tried-and-trusted screen persona, stretching his dramatic chops has rarely been on the agenda. In fact, it’s been a decade since Johnson tried anything other than his usual routine, and it’s not a coincidence that he gave one of his best-ever performances as a coke-addicted criminal in Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain.
With his reputation taking a hit in the wake of the Black Adam fiasco, it’s been suggested that the 50 year-old try something different for a change, and The King could – and maybe still should – be that project. Based entirely on its premise and the talent attached, it promised to be unlike anything we’d ever seen from The Rock before, and could potentially alter his cinematic legacy forever.
First announced back in the summer of 2018, Academy Award-winning Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, and Cast Away director Robert Zemeckis was revealed to be directing Johnson as Hawaiian ruler Kamehameha in a blockbuster-sized historical epic penned by Oscar-nominated Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace.
The ruler unified the islands following a series of brutal conflicts in the 1790s, and ensured that it would remain that way after his death. The leading man and producer has strong ties to Hawaii, and the prospect of seeing him stretch his muscles in a sweeping period piece that would require the battle scenes to be punctuated by a genuine performance of actual dramatic heft was tantalizing stuff.
Instead, it fell by the wayside, and he reverted back to type. On the docket are expensive effects-driven action comedies including Red One, sequels to Red Notice and possibly another Jumanji, leaving The King as a second-class citizen.
