Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had barely been in WWE for half a decade when he started trying to break into Hollywood. That began with a cameo role in 2001's The Mummy Returns as Mathayus. The character struck a chord with moviegoers, and The Scorpion King followed in 2002.
While the movie was by no means a critical hit, the spin-off was a moderate financial success, making just shy of $179 million at the worldwide box office on a reported $60 million budget.
There were plans for Johnson to return in a sequel, but the movie was shelved until a direct-to-video prequel, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, was released in 2008, starring Michael Copon as Mathayus.
Victor Webster took over the role in 2012's The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, and returned for The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power. At this point, you might think we're trolling you, but a fifth direct-to-video instalment really did follow in 2018 with Zach McGowan taking centre stage in Scorpion King: Book of Souls.
We first heard of plans for a reboot in 2020, with Johnson attached as a producer for a contemporary adaptation of the character's story. According to scooper @MyTimeToShineH (via SFFGazette.com), "The Rock is in talks to return as the Scorpion King," suggesting The Smashing Machine star will once again play the character that helped put him on the map.
It would be a fun role for Johnson, who, after a series of failures, is looking to make his mark as a "serious" actor with dramatic roles. However, he isn't turning his back on blockbuster fare and will shoot the next Jumanji movie next year.
Last year, The Mummy Returns director Stephen Sommers reflected on casting The Rock as The Scorpion King. "He was great. I had never heard of the guy, but then they sent me some footage of him, and he was just perfect," the filmmaker recalled. "I had to shoot so fast with him because he flew into Marrakesh on Wednesday, and he had to be in Detroit for a WWE thing on Saturday."
"But boy, was he a trooper. As soon as the studio saw the dailies, the president of Universal was calling me up and saying, 'You got to write a movie for him.' Somehow over the next week or so, I came up with this idea that became the Scorpion King movie," Sommers explained.
The Scorpion King franchise definitely has potential, especially as only The Rock's version of Mathayus left a lasting impression on moviegoers (with all due respect to his lesser-known successors). It's worth pointing out that there have been rumblings about a new The Mummy movie starring Brendan Fraser, so perhaps that's the project Johnson has been in discussions about.
Keep checking back here for updates on The Scorpion King as we have them.