Central Intelligence hasn’t even gone into production yet, but it seems as though New Line could have a potential heavy hitter on their hands. It’s being reported that Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart will step in front of the lens for Rawson Marshall Thurber in the spring. Hart will play a high school sports star-turned-accountant who’s gearing up for a class reunion. Prior to the event, he’s contacted by an old classmate (Johnson) who was the school bullies’ prime target back in the day. Now, however, Johnson’s character is a CIA contract killer and he winds up recruiting Hart’s character to help him stop a plot to sell military secrets.
It's a good thing those behind the film took their time with this one, whether it was intentional or not. There's no way a Dean Parisot-directed rendition with Ed Helms in Hart's role could come close to the amount of hype Johnson and Hart's version will spark. Hit the jump for more on Central Intelligence.
According to Variety, Ike Barinholtz and Dave Stassen penned the original script, but Sean Anders and John Morris are working on a new draft. After that, Thurber will step in to take a pass. The plan is to have the film in production in the spring with Scott Stuber producing for Bluegrass Films and Peter Principato and Paul Young doing so on behalf of Principato-Young Entertainment.
You might have caught these Tweets from Johnson and Hart building some hype before the big announcement:
I can’t say I’m totally sold on the idea of a contract killer recruiting an old classmate for a mission, but as far as the film’s box office potential goes, this thing’s got moneymaker written all over it. Thurber’s last film, We’re the Millers, wound up taking nearly $270 million worldwide, Hercules had a rough run at the domestic box office but still managed to post $242 million globally and Hart’s Ride Along was a surprise hit in January, earning $41.5 million opening weekend and wrapping its domestic run with $134 million in the bank.
In addition to Central Intelligence, Johnson also has San Andreas and Furious 7 coming out next year as well as another Journey to the Center of the Earth movie in development (also over at New Line) and he’s set to play Black Adam in Shazam as well. As for Hart, he’s got Ride Along 2 in post production and Get Hard and The Wedding Ringer set to hit theaters next year.
