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.