Dwayne Johnson’s Dream Comes True: He Will Play a Hawaiian King
The summer of silly Rock blockbusters (Rockbusters?) is over. Now the reign of serious Rock biopics has begun.
After a little less than two decades in Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson has finally nabbed the acting role of his dreams, no hyperbole intended. Deadline reports that Johnson is set to portray the Hawaiian king Kamehameha in the drama The King, which has the pretty enviable creative team of director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and screenwriter Randall Wallace (Braveheart) behind it.
King Kamehameha was a force to be reckoned with while he ruled the islands between the 18th and 19th centuries, mostly because, well, he founded the damn place and was able to forcibly unite all of the islands from a near-constant state of war and panic. Deadline describes the film as wanting to be an epic in the vein of Braveheart, with the plot primarily focusing on how the king "took control of Hawaii’s destiny," fighting and bloodshed be damned.
"KA LA HIKI OLA. Dawning of a new day with hope and promise. Humbled and grateful to begin this once in a lifetime journey. KING KAMEHAMEHA—the legendary King was the first to unite the warring Hawaiian islands—fulfilling the prophecy that surrounded his fabled life since birth and creating the powerful and spiritual 50th state as we know it today," Johnson wrote on Instagram to confirm his casting. "From the day I began my Hollywood career, my dream was to bring this legacy to life. In Polynesian culture we have a belief, that something isn’t done when it’s ready...it’s done when it’s right. The time is right. The one who walks alone."
With Johnson's ridiculously heavy slate of films on the horizon—show of hands, who stans for Jungle Cruise?—it's unlikely The King will begin filming until 2020. We'll re-watch Moana a few more times until then.
