Dwayne Johnson Wants To Remake The Scorpion King
Deadline reports that actor Dwayne Johnson is looking to remake the film starring the character that introduced him to cinema — The Scorpion King. He and partner Dany Garcia would produce the hypothetical movie through their Seven Bucks Productions company, and they have summoned Jonathan Herman to write a script.
The thing about The Scorpion King is that it was only popular before the movie actually came out. Johnson was hot stuff from his days in the WWE, and everyone wanted to see him branch into movies. When he was rumored to show up in The Mummy Returns, it was a big deal, and probably sold half of its tickets from Rock fanatics alone. ….Then everyone found out Johnson’s presence in the film amounted to his head being grafted onto a cheesy-looking CGI scorpion creature. He was LITERALLY a Scorpion King.
Universal did not make the same mistake twice and Johnson was a human man for the actual Scorpion King movie that followed, but I haven’t heard anyone list the film as one of their favorites. It was just kinda…there. Even worse, reports suggest they want the remake to be “a contemporary take set in modern times,” which makes no sense.
The only way we can see this remotely having a chance of attracting interest is if Johnson is intending on reprising the role — then he would at least rope in the nostalgic crowd. But it doesn’t sound like it….Johnson’s schedule is booked up through 2022, so they’re looking for a new actor…..to play a Scorpion King in the modern era who, I don’t know, falls in love in snowy Manhattan during Christmas or something.
This feels like a bad idea.