Get ready literary enthusiasts, coming soon to a theater near you, the latest work in the canon of one of Hollywood's adaptation darlings – Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Huh? Say what now?
While the star of "Tooth Fairy" and "WWF Raw" may not boast the kind of bookish cred of, say, Emma Thompson or Daniel Day-Lewis, The Rock's IMDB page rocks a surprising number of page-to-screen credits. He's slated to star in two upcoming big-budget graphic novel-inspired flicks (as the titular character in Brett Ratner's "Hercules" and in the Barry Sonnenfeld-helmed version of "Lore") and Johnson's latest adaptation outing, "Pain & Gain," hits theaters on April 26. In honor of the upcoming release, we take a look back at the literary leanings of this boulder of books, this bulwark of words — The Rock.
“Pain & Gain” (2013)
This dark action-comedy, directed by Michael Bay and based on a series of Miami New Times articles, tells the story of a trio of bodybuilding layabouts called the Sun Gym Gang (played by Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, and Anthony Mackie) who kidnap and then torture a wealthy businessman to extort him for money. The film is not yet in theaters, but it's already off to a rocky (sorry) start, drawing the ire of the Sun Gym Gang's real-life victims and the discomfort of theater owners.
“Snitch” (2013)
This is perhaps a stretch for our list since this thriller, about a father (Johnson) who, to reduce his son's inflated drug sentence, becomes an informant for the DEA, is not based on a book or an article, but rather a 1999 PBS Frontline episode about the growing importance of snitches in the War on Drugs. But we still find it worthy of consideration, if only for the fact that it earned Johnson unlikely accolades from Mother Jones, which though usually no great fan of the world of WWE, heralded The Rock's "adept" acting performance and marveled that "a man most famous for pantomime wrestling … made a movie slamming mandatory minimums."
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (2012)
The Rock really flexes his literary muscles with this kiddie action-adventure comedy, a sequel to 2008's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "based" on Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. Johnson plays Hank, an ex-Navy tough who wants to win points with his ne'er-do-well stepson Sean, who's busy trying to decode a message from his grandfather that will lead him to Verne's oh-so-mysterious island. Hank, using all his Navy powers of decryption and a dash of library science, discovers that, when put together, the maps from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and The Mysterious Island, reveal the location of the Pacific paradise. With this outing, The Rock gets credit for covering not one but three classic works, and for bringing in a whopping $325 million in worldwide box-office for a film that has him riding on the backs of giant bees.
“Race to Witch Mountain” (2009)
Based on Alexander Key's novel Escape to Witch Mountain, this science fiction flick stars Johnson as a thuggish getaway driver turned cabbie who inadvertently gets roped in to protecting a pair of teenage orphans, who happen to be aliens with serious paranormal abilities. The Rock and the rest of the "Race" team weren't the first to see the cinematic potential in Key's sci-fi classic; Disney first brought the story of the telekinetic twins to the big screen in 1975 and Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men") starred in a 1995 television movie version. And of course there's the campy 1978 sequel, "Return from Witch Mountain," starring Bette Davis as an incredibly creepy spinster who, together with an evil scientist, tries to harness the twins' powers for her own nefarious purposes. Any franchise that brings together The Rock and The First Lady of Film is okay with us.
“Be Cool” (2005)
This is not The Rock's finest work as Vince Vaughn's gay, self-absorbed bodyguard in this sequel to "Get Shorty," based on Elmore Leonard's follow-up novel of the same name. While the joke of Johnson playing against type works for a hot second, it quickly grows tired, leaving Roger Ebert to wish that, instead, The Rock had been cast in a different unexpected role, playing the Harvey Keitel bruiser. "Think," wrote Ebert, "what The Rock could do with a Harvey Keitel character." Our heads spin at the notion. "Be Cool" may not have been Johnson's best turn, but it did establish him as an actor as brazen on camera as he is in the ring — unafraid to look a little foolish while flailing in parts he can't quite nail and somehow becoming all the more likeable in the process.
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