When it comes down to crowning a star with the title of a certified hitmaker in the film industry, there are a lot of options to choose from. But even with these choices, the sheer magnitude of impact that Dwayne Johnson has had in the industry with his introduction to Hollywood is simply undeniable, which makes him one of the closest to be crowned with this title with ease.
being part of so many commercial and critical hits in his career, the star has made a name for himself as the man with the golden touch when it comes to major cinematic projects. But there are limitations to his ability to create something spectacular out of nothing, which is evident when we look at these five franchises that weren’t able to be saved by The Rock.
1: G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Starting off with one of the biggest disappointments that Dwayne Johnson had to face in the industry, which was none other than G.I. Joe: Retaliation. After the performance of G.I. Joe: The Rise of The Cobra had mixed reviews from the public and critics alike, a sequel was greenlit by the studios to take one more shot at making it into a successful franchise. Unfortunately, the idea was nipped in the bud after the reviews came in, which were bad, to say the least. This was the nail in the coffin for the potential franchise.
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2: Red Notice
Coming to probably one of the most hyped Netflix films of all time, The Rock’s Red Notice was an instant hit with the audience, amassing numbers that were frankly unprecedented for a Netflix Original film before. Despite these exemplary numbers, the film itself failed to capture the essential legacy of a true escapist/adventure film that it was intended to be, which was evident to the millions of households who watched the movie as well.
3: Black Adam
Coming to his most recent debacle at the box office, DCEU’s Black Adam was one of the biggest bets that Johnson had put on creating a successfully sustainable cinematic franchise with this superhero film. If the film would’ve taken off from the get-go, then the star might’ve found himself in control of his own separate superhero universe. Alas, the first film’s disappointment with box office numbers was enough for James Gunn to axe his dreams.
4: Baywatch
With the release of 2017’s comedy remake of Baywatch, while people may not have expected the film to be an absolute masterpiece, they did expect it to bring the familiar flair of the drama series which it was adapted from. To some extent, the film did bring the magic of the old series, but the plot was not as big of a wave for the film’s success to ride on, which didn’t give it a good enough performance at the box office, at least domestically, to warrant an entire film franchise.
5: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
One of the only films on the list that was neither disliked by the critics nor by the box office. In fact, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was a bigger hit than its predecessor and earned a whopping $335.3 Million to become a commercial success. The only reason why the film was not turned into a franchise was due to Johnson himself. In a past X post, the former WWE star addressed the fact that he wouldn’t be returning for any future film from the series due to problems with the script and his busy schedule, which turned out to be the end of a potentially successful franchise.
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Why Does Dwayne Johnson’s Franchise Attempts Fail?
One of the biggest reasons why the Fast and Furious star’s attempts at making a successful franchise seem to fail most of the time is due to the fact that they mostly rely on the star power and name of the actor rather than focusing on the actual attempt at giving something more to the audience rather than just Johnson, leading to some lackluster stories.
Other reasons also include the lack of proper execution or planning, which again stems from the dazzling persona of the star that leads them to believe that The Rock will take care of the rest when it should be the other way around since you cannot put the cart before the horse.
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