Credit: DisneyActor Dwayne Johnson has made an official return to Disney and, as a result, shattered unprecedented records.
Dwayne Johnson’s career began in the world of professional wrestling, where he gained fame in the late 1990s as a WWE superstar. His charismatic personality and athletic prowess made him one of the most beloved and iconic figures in wrestling history. During this time in which he was a WWE champion multiple times, he became known as “The Rock,” a moniker that would stick with him throughout his career.
In the early 2000s, Dwayne Johnson transitioned from wrestling to acting, and he quickly established himself as a Hollywood powerhouse. His breakthrough role came in the film The Scorpion King (2002), a spinoff of the popular Mummy franchise. This marked the beginning of his successful movie career. While he is known for being the star in many action blockbusters and franchises, including the Fast & Furious franchise, San Andreas (2015), and Snitch (2013), he has also made a major splash in family-friendly films.
One of Dwayne Johnson’s notable collaborations with Disney came with the 2007 family-friendly film The Game Plan (2007). In this heartwarming comedy, he played Joe Kingman, a football superstar who discovers that he has a daughter and must adapt to fatherhood. The film showcased his ability to entertain audiences of all ages and solidified his status as a family-friendly actor.
Another significant project involving Dwayne Johnson and Disney was his role as Maui in the animated film Moana (2016). Johnson lent his voice to the character of Maui, a shape-shifting demigod, and performed the hit song “You’re Welcome.” The film was a critical and commercial success, and Johnson’s portrayal of Maui was widely praised for its humor and charm. The movie saw so much success that Johnson has now signed on to reprise his role as Maui in a live-action adaptation of Moana, which will begin filming once the ongoing Hollywood strikes come to an end.
Furthermore, Johnson starred in Disney’s live-action adaptation of the classic theme park ride, Jungle Cruise (2021). In this adventure film, he played the role of Frank Wolff, a charismatic riverboat captain who takes a scientist (played by Emily Blunt) on a thrilling journey through the Amazon jungle. The film showcased his action-hero skills, comedic timing, and on-screen chemistry with his co-star.
The Rock has been involved in many different endeavors during the ongoing strike in Hollywood, including making a major return to the WWE, where he was face-to-face with fellow star John Cena, striking up rumors that he could return to the wrestling ring for another match. In addition, he has been working tirelessly on his spring football league, the XFL, as the league could be preparing for a major merger.
However, perhaps the most prominent project that fans spotted Dwayne Johnson in involved a big return to Disney. While we’ve been waiting to see him return to the company for a movie project– and we’ll still have to wait a while on that– The Rock did make a big return last Saturday when he joined the set of ESPN College GameDay to preview the Colorado-Colorado State game. Johnson was chosen as the special guest picker because of his relationship with Deion Sanders, who has coached Colorado to a perfect 3-0 start thus far.
ESPN reported that the Week 3 episode was the most-watched September episode since 2010, ranking as the third-best September episode ever with 2.3 million viewers.
“Well done gentlemen,” Johnson said on social media after the numbers came in. “Way to deliver good times on Game Day. Thanks for the fun!”
While the record-breaking performance was largely due to ESPN’s lovefest for the Colorado football program under Deion Sanders, no one can deny that having a guest star as big as The Rock helped deliver even bigger ratings than many might have thought were possible.
Do you think Dwayne Johnson could get back involved with football? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!