The People’s Champion, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has done incredibly well in the decade since his transition over to Hollywood. But John Cena did it better. Perhaps because Johnson already traced the path from WWF into the filmmaking industry and the criticism that he endured (and graciously overcame) with his physicality and garnering leading roles in big-budget movies already made Cena’s transition manifold easier. But that does nothing to diminish the latter’s talents, as proven recently by the molding hands of James Gunn.
Are The Rock and John Cena Hashing Things Over?
Since The Rock’s rise to the supreme tiers of Hollywood, projects have been flowing in at a consistent rate. The multi-business owner has fingers in many pies and when it comes to films, no one sells out a box office better than Dwayne Johnson. So when the action megastar produces a movie, people know great things are in store. As it turns out, the great thing turned out to be a collaboration with John Cena, indicating a settlement of a long-held beef between the two.
In an interview with Andy Cohen in Watch What Happens Live!, The Rock claimed:
“I think we squashed [the bad blood]. You know, as a matter of fact, John is the star of one of my movies that I’m producing. And I think he’s doing great, he has done great in his transition and he really wants to continue to work on it.”
When asked what the “little stuff” was that led to friction between the two WWE champions, the Rampage star revealed:
“Well, I had left and he had done a series of interviews – radio interviews – and I just felt, some of it… somebody referenced me and said, ‘Oh hey, is The Rock ever coming back?’ And he said, ‘I’m not quite too sure,’ but I just didn’t like how he said it and it stuck with me.
So years later when I went back, I talked to Vince McMahon and we thought well, what if we actually took that and created this kind of thing, and I said, ‘Perfect.’ Fortunately, having the biggest box office record in WWE history which was awesome, and once it was all done, like all silly, you know, beefs like that, like we were so cool.”
Now, the pair are collaborating on The Janson Directive which will be headlined by John Cena and The Rock will serve as the executive producer after he pulled out of his initial role as the lead due to conflicting schedules.
The Janson Directive: All There is to Know
Written by the great Robert Ludlum, The Janson Directive was published posthumously in 2002, a year after the author’s death. The masterweaver of paranoia has delivered epic works, which have later been adopted into incredible box-office thrillers, including the Jason Bourne series. The Janson Directive was picked up for a live-action adaptation in 2014, and soon after, talks of an interconnected Ludlum Cinematic Universe began flooding in.
However, after The Rock pulled out of the project and John Cena stepped in as the lead, not much progress has been made on that front. The film has been stuck in development since ‘14. The pair also grazed past each other in the Fast & Furious franchise where Cena steps in just as The Rock solidifies his exit. And a similar circumstance persists in the DC Cinematic Universe. The fans’ wishes to witness the two of them on-screen together may not happen anytime soon.
Source: Watch What Happens Live!
