7 minutes ago
If it were to be reported that Dwayne Johnson spends only an hour per night sleeping, we'd believe it. The man is unquestionably one of the busiest in the industry, and it's amazing to watch him pick up projects left and right. Right now he has more than a few projects waiting in the hopper, but the star has now added one more title to the list: Robert Zemeckis' The King.
Dwayne Johnson himself confirmed morning trade reports about his involvement with his project, using his personal Instagram account to express what the project means to him. Based on a script by Randall Wallace (Braveheart), the film will feature the movie star as Hawaiian king Kamehameha I, and will tell the story of his work to unite the Hawaiian islands. It's a project that Johnson has spent nearly 20 years trying to make, and now it looks like it's moving forward with the director of Back To The Future, Contact, and Forest Gump at the helm.
You can read Dwayne Johnson's confirmation news about The King - which comes packed with tons of genuine sincerity and love for his country - in the Instagram post below:
Exciting as this news is, the big question is when Dwayne Johnson is actually going to be able to shoot the thing. He's currently filming his first live-action Disney movie, Jungle Cruise, and after that he is expected to jump to the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw. The guy also has the anticipated and untitled Jumanji sequel in the works, his Big Trouble In Little China follow-up, his Doc Savage feature with Shane Black, plans to play Black Adam in the DC Extended Universe, and hopes of making San Andreas 2. Oh, and let's not forget that he also stars in his own HBO series, Ballers, which starts is currently in the midst of its fourth season. Given Johnson's passion for The King, it will be interesting to see if it winds up leapfrogging some of those other projects in his priorities.
Robert Zemeckis also happens to be a fairly busy individual, and is currently in the process of completing his latest directorial effort, Welcome To Marwen (which will arrive just in time to qualify for Oscar season - hitting theaters on December 21st). When that's done, though, with the exception of a few projects he's producing his slate is clear - so perhaps Dwayne Johnson will find some way to get The King made sometime during 2019... if they can discover a window of opportunity.
According to Deadline, The King is being developed at Warner Bros. and New Line, but obviously the film doesn't have any kind of release date yet. We're going to keep a close eye on it, as we do with all Dwayne Johnson movies, so be on the lookout for more updates here on CinemaBlend.