Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will lead a new Martin Scorsese film, per Deadline. Can’t say we expected the guy who starred in The Game Plan to ever link up with one of cinema’s greatest living auteurs, but in the immortal words of Jemima Kirke, “What the hell, sure.” The world already seems to be topsy-turvy. Johnson will co-star in the film with Emily Blunt and Leonardo DiCaprio, which makes more sense: DiCaprio is a Scorsese staple, and Blunt has been doing the rounds with every major director in town of late.
According to IndieWire, Johnson and Blunt—who are fashioning themselves into some kind of strange (and, based on name alone, easily meme-able) dynamic duo after multiple collaborations—brought the project to Scorsese themselves. He got on board, and then brought in his old pal Leonardo DiCaprio. The film “focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands,” per a synopsis from Deadline. “In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land. It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”
Johnson’s “biggest box office draw in Hollywood” crown slipped a little bit with the Black Adam fiasco and the Red One behind-the-scenes scuttlebutt. In response, the action star appears to be pivoting to prove he can be a Serious Actor. He and Blunt co-star in the upcoming Benny Safdie film The Smashing Machine about the life of MMA fighter Martin Kerr. “I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past. I’m at a point in my career where I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain,” the ex-WWE star told Variety. “I’m at this point in my career where I want more. And I don’t mean I want more box office. I mean I want more humanity. And that is why Benny Safdie is the perfect, collaborative, hungry partner for me.” If that’s what you’re looking for, Martin Scorsese is probably a pretty good partner, too. Nice work if you can get it!
