Dwayne Johnson Poised to Dive Into 'Baywatch' Movie
By Tatiana Siegel
Paramount is moving forward with its big-screen adaptation of Baywatch and has loosely attached Dwayne Johnson for beach patrol duties. The studio also has hired Justin Malen to rewrite and has brought aboard the hot comedy writing team of Sean Anders and John Morris (We’re the Millers) to direct.
Montecito Pictures is producing along with Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson.
Johnson has long been rumored to head up a Baywatch movie, and the oft-shirtless star would seem a perfect fit for the action film that takes place along the perilous shores of Santa Monica. In fact, the Fast & Furious star is no stranger to showing off his abs as he did in the titular role in Hercules, which opened in July.
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Paramount has been trying to mount a Baywatch movie for years and has begun to ramp up its efforts. A number of previous writers have taken a crack at the script including Jeremy Garelick and Peter Tolan. At one point the action was set to revolve around a series of shark attacks that led the Baywatch team to investigate a drug-smuggling operation. It is unclear what Malen’s take will be for the latest version.
Malen has become an in-demand writer after his 2011 Blacklist script Bastards became a hot comedy property. Bastards is moving toward a March 2015 start date with Jason Sudekis and Ed Helms starring (Larry Sher will direct, and Montecito Pictures will produce the Alcon-financed project). Malen also wrote the sequel to Bad Teacher for Sony, with Cameron Diaz attached to star.
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Johnson, who recently shot the action film San Andreas for producer Flynn as well as Fast & Furious 7, is repped by WME and attorneys Bianca Levin and Harold Brown.
Malen is handled by Verve and DMG Entertainment.
Anders and Morris, whose writing credits include Horrible Bosses 2, are represented by Mosaic and attorney Todd Rubenstein.
Paramount declined comment.
Photo credit: Austin Hargrave
