Before Dwayne Johnson was a global superstar with roles in some of the biggest blockbusters of our time, he was the Scorpion King, a poorly-rendered villain who faced off against Brendan Fraser in THE MUMMY RETURNS. In THE SCORPION KING Dwayne Johnson reprised his role in a prequel that told the story of Mathayus and his rise to become the legendary Scorpion King. The film went on to spawn its own franchise of direct-to-video sequels, but Deadline has now reported that Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Seven Bucks Productions will be working with Universal Pictures to relaunch the franchise with a brand-new movie.
Universal and Seven Bucks Productions have already tapped Jonathan Herman to pen the script, but it doesn't appear as though Dwayne Johnson will be stepping back into the title role as the studio is apparently searching for a new actor to play Mathayus. That said, the role was a special one for Johnson, so Deadline says that "the chance of him appearing in the movie also seems like a good possibility." There aren't many details about the relaunch at the moment, but Deadline's sources say that this one will be a "contemporary take set in modern times." That sure worked out for Tom Cruise's THE MUMMY. In a statement, Dwayne Johnson said:
The Scorpion King was my very first role ever on the silver screen and I’m honored and excited to reimagine and deliver this cool mythology to a whole new generation. I wouldn’t have had the career I’m lucky enough to have had it not been for The Scorpion King and I’m thrilled that we at Seven Bucks Productions can help create those same opportunities for other hard working actors today. I believe Jonathan Herman will put in the hard work to deliver a fantastic script for our global audience.
"The original Scorpion King was a crucial catalyst helping to catapult us into the world of film," added Dany Garcia. "To be able to now produce the next iteration as part of our Seven Bucks Productions slate is a special, full circle moment, a testament to what we have been fortunate enough to build for our audience and ultimately a humble reminder of the timeless value of authentic storytelling." Although there had been plans for a big-screen sequel to THE SCORPION KING following the release of the original film, the franchise ended up going the direct-to-video route with a prequel, THE SCORPION KING 2: RISE OF A WARRIOR, which was followed by THE SCORPION KING 3: BATTLE FOR REDEMPTION, THE SCORPION KING 4: QUEST FOR POWER, and THE SCORPION KING: BOOK OF SOULS.