Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is no stranger when it comes to video game movies. He has starred in the 2005 adaptation of the FPS genre's most recognizable series, DOOM, to the adaptation of the 1986 arcade game Rampage from 2018. I'll even through in the recent Jumanji movies from 2017 because while they aren't adapting video games, they are video game movies (technicality!). Now a recent interview with The People's Champ has confirmed that he is currently working to get another game property adapted, which should be announced later this year.
In a recent interview with Men's Journal, Johnson was asked if he has any plans to bring more video game characters to movies, to which he said that he is currently working on bringing a new video game film adaptation of "one of the biggest, most badass games" to the big screen.
I can’t tell you which game in particular we’re doing, but there will be an announcement this year. We’re going to bring one of the biggest, most badass games to the screen—one that I’ve played for years. I’m really excited to bring it to fans around the world. Of course we’re going to do right by our gamer friends—but really we’re just going to make a great movie.
Johnson also name-drops Madden as a game he is a fan of, though this revelation doesn't do much in ways of clues to what the project could be about since I doubt the yearly football franchise is going to be the title of choice for an adaptation.
The list of possible adaptations is a fairly long one, with one that jumps out immediately being Fortnite. Not only is the Battle Royale title the biggest game in the world today, but The Rock was recently added at the start of the game's Chapter 3 as The Foundation, providing both face and voice performance during the game's "The End" Event. With a connection already there between the former WWE wrestler and the title as well as the popularity of multidimensional crossovers with the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it isn't a leap to think that we might be seeing the Battle Bus in theaters.
The interview with Men's Journal point's out The Rock's relationship with Microsoft and Xbox, so it is possible that only one of the company's franchises such as Halo or Gears of War could be next in line for the adaptation treatment. Other possible titles could also include a possible Call of Duty which was originally announced back in 2015 and was also announced to be on hold in February 2020. With the recent announcement that Microsoft would be acquiring Activision-Blizzard could also lean into this option if looked at from the Xbox angle. Other examples of games that might fit into the "biggest, most badass" descriptor as well as work well in a film framework include series such as BioShock and Red Dead Redemption, but personally, I want to see more Dishonored. I need some more whalepunk in my life!
With the recent success of video game adaptations with the likes of Netflix's The Witcher series and Arcane based on League of Legends, it is possible that these adaptations between mediums will begin to turn around after a history of middling outings. If this project does get the green light, it would join other upcoming video game to film/series such as the Mario movie from Illumination, a live-action Uncharted film starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, and the HBO series adaptation of fellow PlayStation franchise, The Last of Us.
It is currently unknown what video game project The Rock will be making, but he did say that the announcement will be made later this year. His next film to hit screens is DC's Black Adam, which is scheduled to release on July 29, 2022.