Recently, we reported that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is attached to star in an upcoming project of filmmaker Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed). The former WWE veteran-turned-actor has confirmed his involvement in the film which also has Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt attached.
In a post on his official 'X' handle, The Rock posted: "Grateful for what’s been the most creatively inspiring time of my career - working closely with my friends and of course, the maestro Marty Scorsese."
Scorsese will return to a territory familiar to him, the gangster film, which led to classics like Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Departed and The Irishman.
The project comes from the mind of British author and journalist Nick Bilton, who has directed the documentary Fake Famous. Bilton's subject is centred on the activity of the Hawaiian underworld in the 1960s and 70s.
Johnson has confirmed the same in his tweet. He wrote, "In the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s the mafia controlled New York, Miami, Chicago, Vegas, and a particularly strong hold on the island I was raised - Hawaii."
The Fast and Furious star is being eyed to play a "formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land."
According to Deadline, which broke the news first, the project is based on "the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise."
Scorsese, Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio, and Bilton will also serve as producers alongside Dany Garcia, Lisa Frechette and Rick Yorn.
The project marks Johnson's first collaboration with Scorsese and DiCaprio's seventh with the legendary director after Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Johnson and Blunt have previously worked together in Jungle Cruise and Smashing Machine. The latter is expected to see Johnson in a relatively performance-heavy role, unlike the blockbuster-friendly kind he did earlier. Blunt recently got raves for her performance in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.
