Dwayne Johnson Is Rebooting ‘The Scorpion King’
“Haku Machenteeeeeee!”
(I think that’s what the Rock yelled in that movie, anyway.)
That’s a scene from The Mummy Returns featuring the Scorpion King, which became one of the first starring roles in the film career of Dwayne Johnson. Back then, he was still the Rock, mostly known as a WWE wrestler. Now those days are long behind him and Johnson is not only one of the highest-paid actors every single year, but also a studio mogul unto himself. And now his company, Seven Bucks Productions is going back to Johnson’s roots to reboot The Scorpion King.
Deadline reports that Johnson’s studio is developing a new version of The Scorpion King. It would feature a new actor in the title role, although they say Johnson may still appear:
With Johnson booked through 2022, the studio will look to tap a new actor to play the action hero as well as a director to steer the ship. Insiders also add its likely he won’t appear in the movie but given how important the property is to Johnson and the studio, there is always a possibility he could make an appearance when this film does finally get into production.
The original Scorpion King from 2002 was actually a spinoff of the then-hugely successful Mummy franchise starring Brendan Fraser. The Rock’s character first appeared in The Mummy Returns, where he was actually the villain; an ancient king resurrected as a giant scorpion monster. The Scorpion King movie that followed was a prequel, with a young warrior named Mathayus (Johnson) who rises to become king of his people. Several direct-to-video sequels and prequels followed, but the Rock only appeared in the first movie. Swords-and-sandals movies are few and far between these days, so maybe the time right for the genre to make a comeback?
Gallery — Reboots That Are Also Sequels: