‘Furious 8’ Star Dwayne Johnson Cast In ‘Rampage’ After HBO Confirms ‘Ballers’ Season 2

“Furious 8” star Dwayne Johnson has landed the lead role in “Rampage,” a film based on the 1980s Midway Arcade video game that features monsters and apes destroying cities. It will be produced by Beau Flynn and Brad Peyton, who will also be the director.

This is the third time Johnson, Flynn and Peyton are together in the same project. The first two were the 2012 action comedy “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and the recent action thriller “San Andreas.”

Directed by Peyton and produced by Flynn, “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and “San Andreas” are both box-office hits. The former earned $460 million globally at the box office and the latter grossed $335 million.

“True Detective” alum Alexandra Daddario, “The Good Wife” actress Archie Panjabi, “Straight Outta Comption” actor Paul Giamatti and “Bangkok Love Story” actor Will Yun Lee are among Johnson’s “San Andreas” co-stars. The film is Warner Bros’ highest-grossing film and most successful original live-action film this year , according to Deadline.

There are still no details about Johnson’s fellow cast members in “Rampage,” which is slated for a 2017 release. The film will be written by Ryan Engle and executive produced by Jeff Fierson. Engle also wrote the script of the 2014 action thriller “Non-Stop,” which starred Liam Neeson opposite Julianne Moore.

Johnson is then expected to star in at least two films in 2017. It has been confirmed that he will join Vin Diesel, Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson in “Furious 8” to reprise his role as the Diplomatic Security Service agent named Luke Hobbs.

Following the box-office success of “San Andreas,” Johnson starred in the new HBO half-hour series “Ballers,” which premiered on June 21. With its impressive ratings, the comedy series created by Steven Levinson has been renewed for season 2 only after three episodes of its first season.

In a statement obtained by Variety, HBO original programming chief Michael Lombardo said they are thrilled with the response “Ballers” has received and hope for another exciting season. He attributed the series’ success to “the charismatic and hugely talented Dwayne Johnson.”

In “Ballers,” Johnson plays Spencer Strasmore, a retired football player reinventing himself as a financial manager to Miami-based players. His fellow main cast members are David Washington, Donovan W. Carter, Jazmyn Simon, John Omar Miller, London Brown, Rob Corddry and Troy Garity.

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