Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have unveiled the first images from the upcoming Rampage movie that stars Dwayne Johnson, based on the popular video game franchise. Johnson reteams with his San Andreas and Journey 2 director Brad Peyton for the film, which revolves around a heroic primatologist whose best friend is a rare albino silverback gorilla named George. But when an experimental serum goes wrong, George and other creatures grow to enormous size, at which point they set out on a destruction path with Johnson and a genetic scientist played by Naomie Harris hot on their trail. Also starring in the film are Negan himself Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a government agent and Malin Akerman as the film’s villainess, Claire Wyden.

George is played via motion-capture by Jason Liles, with Weta Digital handling the visual effects. Alongside George are a 30-foot wolf named Ralph and a football-sized crocodile named Lizzie, all three of whom threaten to lay waste to Chicago.

These images don’t reveal the creatures just yet, but Johnson promises a non-stop action thrill ride with the finished film:

“These monsters are relentless, and audiences are going to find that ride very exhilarating. As an actor in the movie, it’s fun and daunting. It’s 12- to 14-hour days of survival, and it’s not quiet survival either.”

The first trailer arrives Thursday, at which point we’ll no doubt get our first look at the creatures, but this is merely the next in a series of action films in which Johnson tries to save the day. In next month’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle he plays a high school girl trapped in a Dwayne Johnson-sized avatar inside a video game, and in next year’s Skyscraper he plays a former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader who must save his family (and his name) as the world’s tallest building is set ablaze. Basically Dwayne Johnson is living out every imagination playtime scenario that we had when we were kids.

Check out the first Rampage movie images below via USA Today. Scripted by Ryan Engle (Non-Stop) and Carlton Cuse & Ryan J. Condal (creators of the USA series Colony) and Adam Sztykiel (Due Date), the film also stars Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, P.J. Byrne, Marley Shelton, Breanne Hill, Jack Quaid, and Matt Gerald. Rampage opens in theaters on April 20, 2018.

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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.

Here’s the official synopsis for Rampage:

Primatologist Davis Okoye (Johnson), a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth.  But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size.  To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals.  As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend.