WWE News: Dwayne Johnson and Will Ferrell Developing Pro Wrestling Sitcom Based on The Rock's WWE Career

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s wrestling career is the stuff of legend for WWE fans. 

The Rock is arguably the biggest and most successful wrestler in the history of the business. 

He spent roughly seven years as a full-time wrestler and starting out making forty dollars per match to selling out the biggest arenas in the world and main eventing Wrestlemania along with Stone Cold Steve Austin at the peak of the industry.

Ninety-nine percent of WWE Superstars would have reached their apex, but Dwayne Johnson was one in a billion. 

The Rock’s wrestling career became a huge launching pad for him to spend another seven years climbing the Hollywood ladder to become one of the most successful movie stars in the world. 

As a person, he has a great autobiographical story to tell, which is exactly what he’s going to do alongside Will Ferrell. 

It was recently reported that FOX had ordered a pilot from The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions company, which is a reference to the seven dollars he had in his pocket when he first started wrestling, to develop a new sitcom based on his backstage experiences during his time with WWE and the wrestling industry.

The Rock will be joined by the former head writer for WWE Brian Gewirtz, who left the company to work with Johnson. 

Also joining the two men will be Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions that will be co-producing the show. 

Nothing is confirmed, but it’s likely Ferrell and Johnson will be featured for on-screen roles at some point during the pilot and beyond if it’s picked up to series by FOX. 

The show and pilot have yet to be named, but the idea for the show is being described as “a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional professional wrestling outfit and chronicles the one-of-a-kind odd couple relationship that develops between a charismatic young character, like The Rock, and a painfully awkward comedy writer to the world of wrestling.” 

Johnson elaborated the following about bringing his stories to life on-screen:

 “This November will mark the 20th anniversary of my professional wrestling debut. 

I was 24 years old, putting in the hard work, making $40 bucks per match and had no clue of the long journey that lay ahead of me with characters and backstage stories so colorful you’d think there’s no way that can be true. 

The entertaining show that goes on in front of the crowd pales in comparison to the insanely entertaining show that goes on backstage. 

Brian and myself can’t wait to tell our stories.”

 It’s true that was eccentric, colorful, and ridiculous as the show of professional wrestling can sometimes, the real entertainment of the wrestling industry is behind the scenes where the show is put together, and the real life personas of the colorful cast of characters are exposed on the road traveling from city to city.

There is a lot of material for The Rock and Gewirtz to bring to the screen. 

The latter had the following to say about writing the series with Johnson: “Coming from Hollywood to the wrestling industry, with its intense backstage atmosphere and larger than life personalities, was a major culture shock. 

After working in the business for over 15 years, Dwayne and I had encounters and experiences that were unbelievable as well as unforgettable. 

We can’t wait to bring this project to the fans.” The pilot of the show will no doubt be a huge hit for wrestling fans, but the crossover appeal of The Rock could make this a monster hit for FOX. 

Netflix is currently developing G.L.O.W about the fictional behind the scenes shenanigans of an all-female wrestling promotion, so the competition is on for both shows.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson takes over Forbes’ list of highest-paid actor

Remember the days when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was simply “The Rock”? The days when he terrorized the WWE?

Well, Johnson seems to be doing just fine with how things have turned out since.

The former wrestler has taken over the top spot of Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors from Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr., who fell to No. 8 ($33 million).

Johnson earned $64.5 million this year, which doubles his 2015 earnings. The 44-year-old stars in Central Intelligence, Fast 8 and Baywatch.

A quarter of Forbes’ list come from non-American actors. Jackie Chan ($61 million) ranked behind Johnson at No. 2, Shah Rukh Khan ($33 million) ranked No. 8, Akshay Kumar ($31.5 million) ranked No. 10, Salman Khan ($28.5 million) ranked No. 14 and Amitabh Bachchan ($20 million) ranked No. 18.

Harrison Ford ($15 million) makes a return to the list at No. 20  and is the oldest actor on the list at 74-years-old.

Dwayne Johnson pays tribute to cancer-stricken fan

Dwayne Johnson has paid tribute to a young fan after the seven-year-old lost his battle with cancer last week (ends30Jul16).

Earlier this year (16), the action man invited Gabriel 'Tater' Singleton to join him on the set of the upcoming Baywatch remake to fulfil a lifelong dream of meeting his celebrity hero.

Johnson posted photos and videos on his Instagram account documenting their time together, and on Tuesday (02Aug16), the wrestler-turned-actor returned to the photo-sharing app to share the sad news his young friend had passed away. 

In a lengthy post, Johnson wrote, "I don't know why this lil' 7yr old boy was chosen to battle cancer. Fighting it hard core daily... I believe everything happens for a reason - but sometimes it requires us to have faith to look deeper to know what they are. A few days ago Lil' Tater passed on, earned his angel wings and is no longer in pain. 

"Our strength and love go out to Tater's mom, dad and sisters whom I had the privilege of spending time with on our set of Baywatch. As a dad, I'd do anything to put a smile on my girl's faces and Tater's mom and dad did everything they could to make this little boy smile. He sure did and it was beautiful. And we all smiled with him." 

He continued, "We can't control what's around the corner, but we can ALWAYS control our effort and how we choose to LIVE and LOVE in this unpredictable, crazy and amazing thing we call life. Effort is our choice. #LiveLikeTater (after writing this post I'm counting my blessings and motivated to be productive today and run thru a wall like a maniac. Which would DEFINITELY make Tater laugh)".

When "Tater" met his idol in March (16), Johnson shared a video of himself presenting the fan with a Photoshopped poster, in which the lad was the star of his own Baywatch movie. Before handing the frame to him, Johnson held back tears while Tater stood there in awe. 

In the accompanying caption, Johnson wrote, "When I told him 'we're all so inspired by you, especially me' and looked down at him and saw him lookin' up at me, nodding his head with those big eyes.. good Lord I almost lost it in front of him and the whole damn crew. 

"Despite my almost tearing up like a baby and ruining my tough guy image, the greatest and I think most beautiful irony about Tater, is that this very special little boy has no idea just how much he inspires all of us around him. One day he will."

Dwayne Johnson: a graceful and complex comedy heavyweight

The Rock was the funniest man in WWF, now he’s the main attraction in otherwise over-familiar buddy movie Central Intaelligence.

The bad news about Central Intelligence is that you’ve seen it all before. It’s a mismatched buddy-buddy pic in the line of heritage that stretches all the way back to 48 Hrs (or back to Two Rode Together, if that’s your bag), and their many, many rip-offs and retreads. It works the racial-difference angle, even though its leads are both, technically speaking, people of colour. And it adds the now obligatory post-Apatow bromantic sweetness element between its male leads, along with what looks like a lot of material improvised on the set. It’s the same movie as Melissa McCarthy’s Spy, released this time last year, and we could probably go back 10 years and find its counterpart in every summer release schedule. Many of them are simply other Kevin Hart vehicles.

The good news about Central Intelligence is that sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks. And that dog would be The Rock, now known exclusively by his real name, Dwayne Johnson, and finally coming clean as a natural-born comic lead. He was always the funniest man in the WWF: no one can forget his raised eyebrow, which was also the only breakout star of Be Cool. We all remember “The Rock Obama”, and he gave good funny in the underrated Get Smart reboot. Here, everything is on a broader scale, but Johnson delivers a complex portrait of courage and brains undermined by childhood bullying.

He and Hart have switched lives since high school. Hart’s Calvin Joyner – then nicknamed “The Golden Jet”, star of track, field and classroom, and voted “the boy most likely to” – is now a bored, married accountant, embarrassed to attend his 20th-anniversary reunion. Johnson’s Bob Stone (born Robbie Weirdicht), back then a friendless oft-humiliated tub of lard, is now a buffed-out mountain of handsomeness who may or may not be in the CIA. But he retains an adolescent high regard for the hero of his old school, and is overly tactile, childlike and nerdly – though he finishes a mean bar fight when one arises, much to Calvin’s bemusement. Kevin Hart, the comedy professional in this set-up, spends most of the movie in scrambling, reactive mode, as Johnson, with his size (especially next to his diminutive co-star), his grace of movement and his megawatt charisma, is its ever-revving V8 engine.

The rest, of course, is everything you’d expect: betrayals, double-crosses, mucho silliness, but the strength of the relationship, and its oddness and sweetness, lend a little extra weight and heft. I’ve completely forgotten it already, though, and I’m now busy wondering what next summer’s version of this movie will be called.

Tech gurus from tinsel town

If you are a fan of Dwayne Johnson, then you would know that the actor is a morning person. On his birthday this year, he released a motivational alarm clock app. It has customised alarm tones from The Rock himself. It has two alarm settings -- one of which is the time when The Rock gets up. It allows you to set your goals for the day and if you complete it, you get a “Good job” from The Rock himself.

Dwayne Johnson is not the first celebrity to dabble with technology. Here are some who have proven quite successful in the tech world as inventors and innovators:

Hedy Lamarr: Many people know Hedy Lamarr as the Hollywood actor from movies such as The Female Animal and The Story of Mankind. But at the beginning of World War II, Lammarr along with composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for allied torpedoes. The principles of their work is now utilised for WiFi and Bluetooth technology.

Ashton Kutcher: Not far removed from his character in Two-and-a-half men, Kutcher is a tech enthusiast in real life as well. In 2013, he was appointed as a product manager for Lenovo. The actor is also the co-founder of an investment company called A-Grade Investments, which has invested in over 20 companies including Skype, Spotify, Airbnb, Foursquare, Fab, Uber, Dwolla and Pat

He is not only a fan of tech gadgets but is very much active on digital media. He was the first celebrity to reach over 1 million followers on Twitter. He also established a company called Katalyst to produce original content for digital media. But, the company was shut down.

Dr. Dre: Well-known for his rap career, Dr. Dre is also the founder of Beats Electronics. He released his first headphones in 2008. Hewlett Packard showed interest in this venture in 2009 and released a laptop with 15 Beats limited Edition. In 2014, Apple made a bid for Beats by Dre, making Dre the richest man in hip-hop.

will.i.am: From a singer/rapper to a tech fanatic. Singer will.i.am was appointed as a Director of creative innovations at Intel and works with interactive technology. From designing a special case that includes a lens to turn an iPhone into a quality camera for artists, to being the first recording artist to send a song to Mars in conjunction with NASA’s Curiosity Mars Space Lab, will.i.am has taken technology for artists to another level.

In February 2016, will.i.am introduced his smartwatch called Dial. The wrist watch is a treat for music lovers as it comes with up to 20 million songs along with a voice operated assistant called AneedA. The device has a 2MP selfie camera, 1.63 inch AMOLED display and a 32GB onboard storage. WiFi connectivity is also available.

‘Baywatch’: Dwayne Johnson Reveals First Look at His Squad

The squad’s all here in the latest look at the Baywatch movie reboot. Dwayne Johnson, who takes over David Hasselhoff’s role of Mitch Bucchanon, has been keeping fans up to date on all the latest happenings from the film’s set, and the new look revealed show’s the entire lifeguard team ready to defend their beach — and maybe get a killer tan in the process.

Johnson’s San Andreas co-star Alexandra Daddario plays Summer, while model-turned-actress Kelly Rohrbach takes Pamela Anderson’s former role of C.J. Parker, Zac Efron plays a young hothead named Matt Brody, and Billions actressIlfenesh Hadera as Mitch’s love interest, Stephanie Holden. Also accompanied by actor Jon Bass, all six (including Johnson) take center stage in this first look image.

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“Our entire [Baywatch] squad,” Johnson wrote in the caption. “Are we bad ass? Yes. Do we save lives? All day. Are we a dysfunctional family? Epically. Do we have fun? F*CK YES. We work hard, we play hard.” See them below.

Directed by Seth Gordon of Horrible Bosses, Baywatch tells of a by-the-books lifeguard (Johnson) who has to team up with Efron’s Matt in order to stop an oil tychoon from destroying their beach. Quantico star Priyanka Chopra plays the villain, while the cast also includes Jack Kesy (The Strain) and Amin Joseph (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) in unspecified roles, and Hasselhoff definitely makes an appearance in his signature red trunks.

Johnson previously teased the hard R rating of the film on Twitter, writing, “some good ol’ fashion ‘this is my beach bitch” RATED R humor.” He also teased an ad-libbed scene in which Mitch instructs Matt in the ways of having “manly ‘Alpha balls,’” and he said Efron’s performance was “brilliant.”

Baywatch will hit theaters on May 19, 2017.

Image via The Rock.

Dwayne Johnson's Baywatch gets release date earmarked for Arnie's Terminator sequel

Dwayne Johnson's film Baywatch will officially hit the screens on the release date meant for Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator sequel.

Paramount Pictures was all set to release its next instalment of the Terminator franchise on May 19, 2017.

However, in their recent announcement on Wednesday (January 20), Paramount said that they have taken off Terminator sequel from their release calendar.

Paramount and Skydance Entertainment's film Terminator 2 was scheduled to release in May 2017 initially, but now that date has been allotted to Johnson's Baywatch.

The authorities probably took the decision after disappointing results from Terminator Genisys, which was released last year in 2015.

Though the film was able to gross USD 440 million worldwide, it's domestic collection was far too low with USD 89 million.

The Terminator franchise was revived by production company Skydance as it relaunched the iconic franchise once again in 2015 after the 2009 Terminator Salvation.

Paramount is looking forward to Baywatch, starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Hollywood beauties Ilfenesh Hadera, Alexandra Daddario and Kelly Rohrbach will star in the film opposite Johnson and Efron.  

Speculations are also rife that Bollywood beauty Priyanka Chopra will play a crucial role in the film. However, an official confirmation on the subject is yet to arrive.

The film is based on the 90s NBC hit television series Baywatch. Directed by Seth Gordon, the film will revolve around the life and adventures of a team of lifeguards. 

Dwayne Johnson named highest grossing international box office star of 2015

Having topped the international box office back in 2013, former WWE star Dwayne Johnson has now repeated the feat for 2015, with last year’s hits San Andreas and Fast & Furious 7 generating $1.488 billion and earning The Rock the title of Top International Box Office Star.

“Only way to start this post is with THANK YOU,” said Johnson on Instagram. “WORLD’S #1 INTERNATIONAL BOX OFFICE STAR. I was blessed with this title in 2013 and now again in 2015. $1.48billion is a lot of revenue to generate in our business in only one year, BUT it’s also the important reminder that regardless of what we achieve in life, we always gotta keep striving for more, staying hungrier than the rest and being grateful around every corner. This cool global achievement doesn’t happen without my amazing family, management, agents, attorneys, publicists, financial management, studio partners, fellow actors, Team Rock and the final two deserving personal shout outs – my dog #HobbsTheBeast and you… THE greatest f*cking fans in the world. Stay hungry and keep working your ass off because one day I want to see the news write a cool report about you and YOUR accomplishments.”

Johnson has two movies lined up for 2016 in the action comedy Central Intelligence and the Disney animation Moana, while 2017 will see him appearing the the Baywatch reboot, along with the sequel Fast 8.