Hitting cinemas this week, as well as Disney+ for those with Premier Access, Jungle Cruise pairs Emily Blunt (as Dr Lily Houghton) with Dwayne Johnson as skipper Frank Wolff. Based on the 1955 theme park ride of the same name (itself inspired by the Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn movie classic, The African Queen), Dr Houghton undertakes this perilous journey down the Amazon on a quest to find an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities.

Having spent over US$200 million on the film, Disney is hoping for sizeable returns despite the damage done to cinema revenue thanks to more than a year of Covid-19. Johnson, for his part, is optimistic. “What we’re seeing now [at cinemas] starting with A Quiet Place 2 and Cruella, and then Fast & Furious and certainly with Black Widow … it’s invigorating.”

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Young Rock revisited the star’s youth

Earlier this year fans were treated to a new TV series that looked to explore how Johnson grew up and became the global star that he is today. Young Rock was a candid look at three pivotal episodes, all based on actual experiences, in Johnson’s adolescence, from back in the days when people still called him Dewey. The stories roamed from The Rock’s childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, to his teenage years in Pennsylvania, to college years spent in Miami.

Described as “an endearing peek behind the curtain of both Dwayne Johnson’s childhood and the wild world of wrestling”, the series was well-received and has been renewed for a second season.

Johnson declares he’s done with The Fast & Furious franchise

Supposedly tension has long existed between Johnson and the franchise’s original star, Vin Diesel, who recently claimed he had to dish out some “tough love” to get The Rock to perform to an appropriate standard for Fast & Furious 5.

“I laughed and I laughed hard,” said Johnson in reply. “I think everyone had a laugh at that [comment]. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me.”

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Work on DC Comic’s Black Adam continues

Of course, an actor as popular as Johnson – with some 235 million Instagram followers he is the most followed American male – is not short of work. One of his long-time passion projects that is moving towards completion is Black Adam.

Described by Johnson as “the most unstoppable force in the DC Universe”, Black Adam first appeared in comics in the 1940s. Originally a villain, the character has become an anti-hero these days, a champion of the downtrodden who, unlike Superman or Batman, has no qualms about killing any opponents he deems worthy of death.

Johnson has confirmed he has wrapped production for Black Adam, and the film is expected to be released in summer 2022. In the meantime, DC fans hungry for more anti-hero goodness can look forward to The Suicide Squad (sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad) featuring Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena and Sylvester Stallone, which will be out in August.

Johnson confirms he will voice Superman’s dog

Talking of superheroes, in May Johnson confirmed another super-powered role he has signed up for. That is as Superman’s dog, Krypto the Superdog, in Warner Bros’ animated movie DC League of Super-Pets.

This may not sound like A-list material but hype is steadily building now that Johnson is on board and it has been confirmed that he will be joined by other big names including a fresh-from-The Matrix-reboot Keanu Reeves, as well as Kevin Hart (a frequent collaborator with Johnson, on the likes of Central Intelligence and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle).

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Expect this one around May next year.

The Rock is about to hit Netflix

It’s not just big cinema releases that Johnson has been working on, either. Confirmed for Netflix this November is Red Notice. Delayed by the pandemic from last year, the project is finally set to be released.

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The next step is a nationwide tour across America. Johnson recently announced that a special Teremana “Mana Mobile” tour bus will be zigzagging across the US visiting fire stations, hospitals and military bases in a show of gratitude to public servants, as well as town centres to encourage residents to support local businesses.

“I created Teremana to bring people together and I can’t think of a better way to bring people together than bringing the Mana Mobile directly to them,” said Johnson.

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