Dwayne Johnson To Save Star Wars Next
Dwayne Johnson hasn’t been shy about his love for the Star Wars franchise.
This article is more than 2 years old
For years, Dwayne Johnson hasn’t been shy about his love for the Star Wars franchise, and if a new rumor is to be believed, Johnson might be going to the galaxy far, far away in the near future.
According to Daniel Richtman’s Patreon blog, Dwayne Johnson is being considered for a part in an unspecified Star Wars film. Considering that Forbes has reported Johnson to be the highest-paid actor for the last two years, one would imagine Johnson would be the lead in this film. Otherwise what’s the point?
Rumors have existed for years that Dwayne Johnson might join Star Wars in some capacity. Back in 2017, the Official Star Wars Twitter account followed both Johnson and Rosario Dawson’s Twitter accounts, fueling theories that both might be in consideration for a future Star Wars project. While it seemed like this was wishful thinking, Dawson has since been cast in season two of The Mandalorian, so maybe there was something to these theories after all.
Dwayne Johnson has frequently discussed how much he loves Star Wars in the past. For example, in 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Johnson said on his Twitter, “I also added a cool Han Solo Easter egg in #JUMANJI cause I’m such a Star Wars geek.” In an interview with Screen Rant, Johnson said that the low way he wears his machete holster is a clear reference to how Han Solo wears his gun holster in the Star Wars franchise. In another Tweet from 2017, Johnson said, “Ps, I still try and use the Force like once a week.”
While Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has said that after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the Star Wars franchise would take a film hiatus for a few years, Lucasfilm is still making plans for after this hiatus. In July, Disney delayed a trio of untitled Star Wars films by a year, with the first film moving to December 22, 2023, the second to December 19, 2025 and the third to December 17, 2027.
It’s not clear what this trilogy could be or even which proposed Star Wars projects are still actively being worked on that Dwayne Johnson could be part of. Disney has previously announced that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson would be working on his own trilogy, although the studio has been relatively quiet about this since announcing the project. Last year, Marvel’s Kevin Feige announced he would be working on a Star Wars film with Kathleen Kennedy.
But my money would be on two other unnamed Star Wars films in the works. One has been announced by Sleight director J.D. Dillard, and another, directed by Taika Waititi and written by 1917 scribe, Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Considering Sleight was produced by the WWE’s film division, one could conceivably see that connection leading to the casting of Dwayne Johnson in some way.
Yet even though Dwayne Johnson is a huge fan of Star Wars and would likely make involvement in a future project a priority, one has to also consider the man is already in everything. You don’t get to be the highest-paid actor for two years in a row without making a ton of films.
Dwayne Johnson is already the lead in the Jumanji franchise, a part of the Fast and Furious franchise (much to the chagrin of Vin Diesel) and is about to launch new franchises with Jungle Cruise in 2021 and with Black Adam bringing him into the DC Extended Universe. According to IMDB, he’s also attached to a San Andreas sequel, a Big Trouble in Little China remake, will play King Kamehameha in Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming The King, and is currently filming the Netflix film, Red Notice.
Dwayne Johnson might have been known as “franchise Viagra” in the past, but with so many of his own franchises now in the works, as great as a new Star Wars might be with him as the lead, it’s hard to imagine where the actor would find the time.
