There was a time when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was the saviour of franchises. This was not too long ago. Everything from GI Joe to The Fast and Furious was made better, and got a box office boost, from Johnson appearing in a sequel or follow-up.
At the same time, he was happily carving out a great niche as the heir apparent to Arnie or Sly as the mid-budget action extravaganza king, in movies from Walking Tall through to Rampage, Skyscraper and San Andreas. It all just worked.
Then, something changed. I am not sure what, or when. It might have been when his Producer influence really started to grow, around the same time as everything he said started to sound like an over-enthusiastic management trainee posting on LinkedIn.
Whatever it was, the wheels started to come off. First Black Adam, then Red One. Most recently, what seemed like a sure thing in the form of a live-action remake of Disney’s Moana also flopped.
It’s not as bad as Supergirl, but it is yet another high-profile failure in a summer of them. Moana 2, the animated sequel, just made over $1 billion worldwide, so it is clearly a beloved story. So what exactly was the problem? Well, it doesn’t sound much like Johnson has much of a clue, either. In an interview with People, it all gets a bit confusing:
“Our first two reviews came out. I’ll never forget it. They were amazing. I was like, ‘Wow.’ [Then] it went another way, as sometimes happens. That’s just the way it goes because we’re in this business.
The challenge was, okay, let’s remember, though, what’s going to be beyond this opening weekend. Let’s remember what’s happening right now and the noise that’s happening right now. If you love it, great. If you don’t, no problem.”
Another LinkedIn belter of a quote was also in the interview. Apparently what “really mattered” was that “the culture really stood up.”
With The Mandalorian and Grogu also underperforming, Toy Story 5 is the only bright spot for Disney in a summer they probably had really high hopes for.
