Gather what you will regarding recent hype and hope over John Cena’s strive toward joining the Fast And Furious spin-off realm. It’s worth keeping in mind now that we have some fresh and solid news in the trades four years since news broke of what would have been Dwayne Johnson’s starring attachment to an adaptation of late Bourne author Robert Ludlum’s posthumous 2002 novel, The Janson Directive.
As of Monday, Johnson’s social media endorsement of wrestler-cum-actor John Cena (Blockers, Train Wreck) further and finally sets things in motion over at Universal Pictures with Johnson executive producing with Seven Bucks partners Dany Garcia. It’s not known yet if the studio will continue forward with its plans as announced in 2016 for a Ludlum-based cinematic universe with The Janson Directive as the launchpad.
James Vanderbilt, who co-wrote Johnson’s breakout hit film, The Rundown in 2003, is adapting the novel centered on a covert ops agency legend-turned-elite private security consultant who now teams with a sharpshooter to take assignments he believes will lead to helping those in need. Vanderbilt is also producing with Brad Fischer and William Sherak at Mythology, Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner of Captivate Entertainment, Hiram Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions and Akiva Goldsman of Weed Road Pictures. Mythology’s Tracey Nyberg will serve as executive producer.
Like Johnson, Cena got his start in professional wrestling for the WWE/WWF prior to getting into movies with Cena debuting lead role in 2006 action thriller, The Marine and in 2009 action adventure, 12 Rounds. Cena’s next stop will be in Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee: The Movie on December 21, in addition to a possible starring role in Paramount’s video game adaptation of Duke Nukem.