The Dave Bautista Hollywood takeover continues. The former professional WWE entertainer has appeared in blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, and Dune.
Now he’s reportedly starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie called Knock at the Cabin. Shyamalan is writing and directing the movie, which has a potential release date of Feb. 3, 2023.
There’s not much info about the film besides a nine-second teaser trailer released in October.
Shyamalan likes to hire marquee actors for his movies. He’s worked with Mel Gibson in 2002’s Signs, Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, and Mark Wahlberg in The Happening.
Bautista has been steadily increasing his cachet in Hollywood. He’s appeared in some of the biggest releases of the last few years, and he has some heaters coming out in the next few months as well.
He recently finished filming Knives Out 2 and he’s currently working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He’s also attached to a Lethal Weapon-ish movie with Jason Momoa, and let’s not forget he’s going to be in Dune 2.
Bautista was reportedly quick to jump at the opportunity to work with the director.
Shyamalan’s reputation has been up and down over the years. With Sixth Sense, he came into public consciousness but then made a string of less and less profitable movies, culminating in the critical and commercial flop The Last Airbender in 2010.
However, his latest movie, Old, was warmly received and memed to death.
Guardians director James Gunn took to Twitter earlier this year about why Bautista is such a good actor despite what people may assume with his background as a former professional wrestler.
It’s because he “takes the craft seriously. He’s grounded in real emotion & not showy. The difference between Dave & many wrestler-actors is when you look in his eyes on set he’s in the place he’s supposed to be, not thinking about what he’s going to do next.”
Gunn didn’t stop there. He kept praising the actor and explained why Bautista is so in demand.
One of the things I deal with a lot with actors who have been a part of other performing arts (ie wrestling or comedy) is to get them to STOP JUGGLING and JUST BE. It’s not your job to entertain us – it’s simply your job to be present to the moment in front of you – And to treat it honestly. I never really had to teach that to @DaveBautista. His rawness set him apart from the first moment I met him. It was merely a matter of creating a space where he could come and share himself with all of us. I hate falseness in an actor’s eyes. There are many big time movie stars who hurt movies for me because I can see the lying in their eyes – replacing acting with boasting, or thinking about themselves & what they’re going to do next.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release on May 23, 2023.
