Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had a storied career, and he is now pivoting away from his usual roles.
This time? He's going to be "Chicken Man," a 70-year-old man—with a 70-year-old chicken as a best friend. Yes, all of those words, at once, in the same movie. Johnson's new role will feature in an adaptation of Lizard Music, a book by Daniel Pinkwater.
Johnson discussed his upcoming role while at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) recently during a larger discussion about the direction his career was taking.
Many commenters had some questions. Namely, "Wait, what?"
Johnson has been more well-known for characters he has played in the WWE and many action-thrillers in the 2010s and a bit earlier. Many children might known him best as the voice of Maui in Moana. He's also very well known for his role in the Fast & The Furious series, beginning with Fast Five.
So for him to be branching out like this has people ... intrigued.
Johnson is currently making the film festival rounds after his serious role in Safie's recent film The Smashing Machine, starring as real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr throughout the fighter's tumultuous career in the '80s.
The film has thus far garnered much critical praise, even meriting a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival last week, and is highly anticipated.
Benny Safdie, alongside his elder brother Josh, has quite the directorial and acting resume. The Safdie brothers, after all, saw potential in Adam Sandler for a more serious role and cast him in 2019's Uncut Gems, which went on to be a critics darling that year for both its script as well as casting Sandler against-type.
Safdie is also known as an actor for his work in Oppenheimer and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Johnson, perhaps eager as he gets older to expand his artistic horizons, made a good pick.
Johnson's pivot to more serious, less action-thriller roles may have merely begun with The Smashing Machine this year, even if he played a celebrity fighter, albeit in a bloodier arena than Johnson's own home of the WWE.
Some commenters noted that other former wrestlers like John Cena and Dave Bautista have been making moves in their own acting careers, and wondered if that might be behind some of Johnson's recent script choices.
Some were still a little dubious about the recent turn his career has taken.
Folks noted the possibility that Lizard Music might be an animated film, which begs the question why Johnson, whose presence has been intensely related to his physique from day one, might have appeared much smaller at the TIFF panel where his role was mentioned.
All in all, folks are intrigued by the concept, if still quite confused by the curve ball of every word in a sentence that contains Lizard Music and Chicken Man.
The Smashing Machine is set to be released by A24 in early October 2025.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
