Skip to main content

No rest for ‘The Rock’: Busy actor to star in ‘Die Hard’-style flick set in China

dwayne johnson skyscraper china
Image used with permission by copyright holder
We’re beginning to wonder just how many Dwayne Johnson clones are running around Hollywood. Or maybe he’s secretly part of a trio of identical triplets. Those explanations seem roughly as plausible as one human man taking on the volume of work that he currently has on his slate.

According to IMDB, Johnson has five upcoming projects that are listed as “announced,” two listed as “filming,” one in preproduction, one in post-production, and one that recently wrapped. According to Deadline, however, he has somehow found room for one more.

Recommended Videos

The actor will soon star in Skyscraper, an old-school star vehicle billed as “Die Hard in China.” The film is now officially in the works after a multiple studio bidding war ended with Legendary purchasing the rights and Universal handling distribution. The pitch is said to have generated multiple seven-figure offers, with Sony and Paramount among the many interested parties.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The film will be written and directed by Central Intelligence director Rawson Marshall Thurber, but there has been no word yet on who will be starring alongside the man formerly known as The Rock. Clearly, his name alone is now capable of selling a script and — with China making up an ever-larger share of the all-important foreign market — this film should be positioned to haul in some serious cash.

The larger story here is that Hollywood seems to be making a concerted effort to work more closely with The Middle Kingdom in the years to come. Case in point: The Legendary/Universal team is also working on The Great Wall, an English-language blockbuster starring Matt Damon that will be the first film of its kind to be produced in China. That film will be directed by Chinese helmer Zhang Yimou and is targeting a February 17, 2017, release date.

As for Skyscraper, the film has no release date of yet, but we’ll keep you updated as news breaks.

Adam Poltrack
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…
10 most anticipated new and returning TV shows of 2025, ranked
Joel rides on a horse with Ellie in The Last of Us.

Even though 2024 came after the peak of the streaming era, there wasn't a shortage of new shows to watch. And as we step into the first month of 2025, there are already series on the horizon that have us pumped for the year to come. Seven of our picks for the 10 most anticipated TV shows of 2025 are even slated to arrive within the first half of the year.

HBO landed four series on our list, while Disney+ has two, and the rest of the slots are taken by NBC, Netflix, FX, and Apple TV+. This is just a small sampling of the shows coming up in 2025, so there's always a chance that something unexpected can break out and surprise us. But at this point in time, these are the 10 new and returning shows that we're most excited about.

Read more
Reacher season 3 trailer shows Jack going undercover and meeting his match
Jack Reacher stands next to a woman and stares in Reacher season 3.

Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is one of the good guys, but he now must pretend to break bad in the Reacher season 3 trailer.

The DEA recruits Reacher to investigate a rug import business moonlighting as a criminal enterprise, run by a nefarious figure named Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall). The DEA needs Reacher to go undercover behind enemy lines and infiltrate the business to rescue an informant. It wouldn't be Reacher without some violent action, and the titular hero faces his biggest challenge yet: Paulie (Oliver Richters), a massive henchman working for Beck.

Read more
3 underrated movies on Max you need to watch in January 2025
Isabela Merced leans in to kiss Felix Mallard in Turtles All the Way Down.

Max started off 2025 with a very solid collection of movies from the 1930s to the 1950s, which was a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, black-and-white films remain a hard sell for casual movie lovers. So, for this month's picks for the three underrated movies on Max that you need to watch in January, we won't go back farther than 29 years.

Our choices for January 2025 include one of Jim Carrey's darkest comedies to date, an underappreciated fantasy action film, and even a Max original that deals with YA romance and mental illness.

Read more