Actor and renowned star Dwayne Johnson is in the midst of some trending storylines, to say the least.
The most serious of these is the claim that Johnson and his business partner, Dany Garcia, kidnapped a former wrestler by the name of Trenesha Biggers. Biggers just moved forward with a $3 billion lawsuit that names more than a dozen defendants. In the lawsuit, she claims that Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia hired men to forcibly evict her from her house in Tampa Bay, and then they drove her to a Miami hotel where she was physically and emotionally abused. Johnson and Garcia deny any wrongdoing in the case and recently released a joint statement, sharing that they “look forward to clearing their names” in court.
Outside of the looming lawsuit and potential court date, Dwayne The Rock Johnson has also been in the news for several entertainment projects, some of which have gone south. Johnson’s NBC sitcom Young Rock, which followed the story of him and his life before becoming a famous movie star– including the relationship with his father, Rocky Johnson, and his life in the WWE– was canceled.
In addition, The Rock rejoined the Fast & Furious franchise and confirmed that he and Vin Diesel had worked out their issues. However, one report indicates that Johnson is “having a hard time getting the green light” for movies and that he was essentially forced to come back to Fast & Furious.
Now, more bad news has struck for The Rock, this time in the form of his new football league, the XFL. Johnson purchased the XFL from Vince McMahon, and he and Dany Garcia lined up a television deal to get the league going. Unfortunately, according to reports, the league lost more than $60 million in its inaugural season.
While this is certainly a deflating number, Johnson took to social media to address the next steps for the league and shared that he is “in it for the long haul.”
“I play the long game in business and XFL is no exception,” Johnson said. “We saw some nice successes and took some L’s in our first season that we learn from. 75-100 XFL players will be competing in NFL camps this fall. That’s a big number that will continue to grow season over season. We’re in it for the long haul. Step by step building the league of opportunity. Like with any venture, success takes time. Thanks XFL fans for the love & support.”
There is good news for Dwayne Johnson right now, though, and it comes in the form of Disney.
The actor, who first got his big break as the Scorpion King alongside Brendan Fraser in The Mummy Returns (2001), will begin filming later this year for the new live-action Moana movie. The film was announced by Johnson and Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s shareholder meeting this past spring. Johnson will reprise his role as Maui, but he’ll be joined by a new face. Auli’i Cravalho announced that she will not be playing the role of Moana in the film, but that she would play a part in selecting who her replacement would be.
Though the film has been met with some controversy from fans not wanting another live-action retelling of an animated film, there is hope from Disney that this will be a major blockbuster at the box office when it’s released with Johnson at the forefront.
