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SCHOOL OFROCK
By Elena Cox
‘It’s been a personal project Michael has
had for about a decade now and we talked
about doing it together seven or eight years ago, so it’s nice that it’s come to fruition.’
Although director
Michael Bay has
frequently men-
tioned that the next
movie he will make is his passion
project “Pain and Gain,” a smaller-
EXGJHW�DFWLRQ�ÁLFN�EDVHG�RQ�WKH�real-life story about bodybuilders-
turned-kidnappers in Miami, there
KDV�\HW�WR�EH�DQ\�RIÀFLDO�DQQRXQFH-ment regarding a production start
GDWH�RU�WKH�FRQÀUPDWLRQ�RI�UXPRUHG�stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne
“The Rock” Johnson.
During a junket promoting his
ODWHVW�ÀOP��-RXUQH\����-RKQVRQ�VDLG�the project has been in the works
for years.
He explains, “It’s been a per-
sonal project Michael has had for
about a decade now and we talked
about doing it together seven or
eight years ago, so it’s nice that it’s
come to fruition. It’s a true story.”
It now appears that that an-
nouncement is coming very soon as
Johnson recently told MTV News
that the movie is full steam ahead
and that only a few minor techni-
calities need to be worked out, like
Wahlberg’s schedule.
“It’s going. We’re on the right
train and the right track,” Johnson
said.
“It’s an awesome project, ‘Pain
and Gain.’ It’s been with Michael
Bay for several years now. I read it
years ago; I loved it and wanted to
do it then. He brought it back to me
now,” Johnson said. “I hear Wahl-
berg is in talks and it looks like
we’re going to do it. It’s a really,
really cool story.”
The “Fast Five” star went on
WR�VD\�WKDW�WKH�ÀOP�ZLOO�EH�VKRRWLQJ�this year in order to accommodate
the busy schedules of Bay, Wahl-
berg and Johnson.
“The goal would be to shoot it
this year because [Bay] has ‘Trans-
formers’ to make, obviously that’s
a juggernaut. I can’t wait for that.
Plus, I’ve got ‘Fast Six’ business,
I’ve got to hunt Vin Diesel down
and whoever else is on my list.”
This will be the twenty fourth
ÀOP�IRU�-RKQVRQ��ZKR�JRW�KLV�DFW-LQJ�VWDUW�LQ�WKH������DFWLRQ�ÁLFN�The Mummy Returns, for which
KH�ZDV�SDLG�D�SDOWU\�����������Although he was given only min-
utes of screen time, producers were
impressed enough that they built a
movie around Johnson’s Mummy
character, called The Scorpion
King and bumped his paycheck to a
whopping $5 million.
Johnson set to announce latest Michael Bay film
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Wahlberg
Dwayne Johnson thrilled students and teachers at
his former high school while shooting Journey
���7KH�0\VWHULRXV�,VODQG�LQ�+D-waii by dropping by unannounced - to see
if the old place had changed since he was a
teenage tearaway.
The wrestler-turned-movie star grew
up in Hawaii - and even landed a police
record there following an arrest.
But he was treated like a returning
hero when he showed up at his old school,
William McKinley High School during a
ÀOPLQJ�EUHDN�
“I was a punk kid running around
WKHUH�ZKHQ�,�ZDV�����JHWWLQJ�DUUHVWHG��GRLQJ�D�ORW�RI�things I shouldn’t have been doing,” Johnson said. “It
ZDV�D�UHÁHFWLYH�PRPHQW�GULYLQJ�WKURXJK�WRZQ�ORRNLQJ�at all the places that I got in trouble and arrested at for
a multitude of things. To be able to bring a movie here,
giving tens of millions of dollars to the locals and the
local businesses is very special to me.
“I visited my high school unan-
nounced and I haven’t been there since
,�ZDV�����,�ZDQWHG�WR�JR�WR�YLVLW�WKH�IRRWEDOO�ÀHOG�DQG�ZHLJKW�URRP��ZKHUH�I spent so much time and started to un-
derstand the value of discipline and hard
work. Word spread quickly that I was
there and all the students gathered round
and I had a quick word with them.
´,�VSRNH�ZLWK�WKH�SULQFLSDO�ÀUVW�DQG�wanted to know how the students and
the school was doing and he was very
happy and proud to tell me how well the students were
doing. I told the students how, after all these years, it
was great to come back and I told them to keep up the
great work and keep chasing their greatness.”
‘I was a punk kid running around
there when I was 14, getting arrested, doing a lot of things I shouldn’t have
been doing’
Johnson pays visit
to his Hawaiian roots
President William McKinley High School, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Rock returnsT
KH�5RFN�KDV�EHHQ�FRQÀUPHG�WR�ZUHVWOH�-RKQ�&HQD�RQ�$SULO�DW�:UHVWOH0DQLD�;;-
VIII. He was the guest host at last year’s
:UHVWOH0DQLD��;;9,,��DQG�JRW�LQYROYHG�LQ�WKH�PDLQ�event, where he screwed over Cena. The next night on
Monday Night Raw, Cena confronted The Rock about
it and The Rock suggested setting up a one-on-one
match between the two for the next WrestleMania
�;;9,,,���,W�ZDV�DQ�XQSUHFHGHQWHG�PRYH��DV�QR�match has ever been set up so far in advance.
Johnson made his wrestling debut at
0DGLVRQ�6TXDUH�*DUGHQ�LQ������DQG�ZRQ�KLV�ÀUVW�::)�FKDPSLRQVKLS��PDNLQJ�KLP��at age twenty-four, the youngest wrestler to
win a belt.
,Q�PLG�������DIWHU�VXIIHULQJ�D�NQHH�injury, he took some time off to recu-
perate and to marry his longtime
girlfriend Dany Garcia, who he
met while playing football
at University of Miami.
The Rock trans-
formed the world
of wrestling,
cultivated a
bad-boy
image and
is cred-
ited with
almost
dou-
bling the
WWF’s
female
fan base.
He was known as The People’s Champion, and his
signature eyebrow move even took on a name — The
People’s Eyebrow. In addition, The Rock became a
merchandising gold mine. His
image appeared on T-
shirts, posters, and Hal-
loween masks; and
there were Rock
DFWLRQ�ÀJXUHV�DQG�video games. By
WKH�����V��DFFRUG-
ing to Gillian Fly-
nn of Entertain-
ment Weekly, the
WWF was bringing
LQ������PLOOLRQ�LQ�merchandise sales
per year, thanks
solely to Johnson.
His autobiography,
The Rock Says, was
UHOHDVHG�LQ������DQG�the book stayed on
the New York Times
bestseller list for an
astonishing twenty
weeks.