Adam Sandler Pushing To Work With Dwayne Johnson?
Could we see a superstar team-up of Adam Sandler and Dwayne Johnson in a project together? Sandler is apparently pushing for it.
Goats are often only one of two things: a hollow-horned, hoofed mammal that bleats, or Dwayne Johnson. And for good reason. With a larger-than-life pop culture presence, a temperament to rival Fred Rogers (and a reputation to match Tom Cruise!), and an onslaught of box office-supported action films and buddy comedies tucked securely behind his many championship belts, The Rock is a definitive force to be reckoned with. Suffice it to say, there’s no actor or crew member on Earth who wouldn’t want to work with The Rock. The latest inductee into Dwayne Johnson’s Hall of Fame of Fans is reportedly another comedy vet — the indomitable, curiously charming Adam Sandler. According to Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman, the New York City native is keen on working with Johnson on a Netflix comedy, but the details end there. Unfortunately, with so little to go on, it’s a rumor at best.
Look, let’s just say if the boulder that crushed Sisyphus ever faced Dwayne Johnson, it would topple downhill in embarrassment, or crumble under the weight of his pecs. Hollywood is a growing Barnhouse of A-listers, but in terms of bankability and raw charisma, Dwayne Johnson is virtually unmatched. That being said, Adam Sandler isn’t too far behind him, with a wide range of movies and genres under his belt meaning there are a lot of ways this could go.
Imagine the prospects! After all, Adam Sandler and Dwayne Johnson are both beloved in the genre, each comedians in their own right. The Rock has pretty much mastered the subtle art of buddy comedy, boasting instant classics like Hobbs & Shaw, Baywatch, and Central Intelligence. He’s basically his own genre at this point. And when it comes to love stories romanticizing the Nice Guy trope, Adam Sandler is practically battle-scarred. The marriage of both genres could result in something even bigger than either of them.
Projects could be anything between a raunchy buddy-cop and a high-stakes thriller pitting both Adam Sandler and Dwayne Johnson against each other. What about an R-rated PvP in the style of Neighbors? Two petty protagonists competing for the same goal? Or maybe something like This Means War: a goofy action movie about a Nice Guy and a Badass vying for the affections of the same woman? Perhaps something simpler and more domestic like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship, or a balls-out-of-the-park musical given both Johnson and Sandler could sing? There’s no end to the possibilities.
Both Adam Sandler and Dwayne Johnson are megastars in their own right, but The Rock was recently named the world’s highest-paid movie star alongside Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds and Spenser Confidential’s Mark Wahlberg. He was last seen playing Spencer’s avatar Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone in Welcome to the Jungle’s sequel Jumanji: The Next Level. Following a year-long hiatus due to COVID-19, Johnson is set to appear in a number of upcoming films, including Disney’s Jungle Cruise and action-comedy Red Notice, with fellow A-lister Ryan Reynolds and the Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot. He’s also slated to play supervillain Black Adam in DC’s Shazam! sequel.
Adam Sandler, on the other hand, was recently involved in a buddy cop comedy of his own, with Jennifer Aniston in Netflix’s Murder Mystery. It’s a clever twist on Agatha Christie, about an elderly billionaire being killed and a married couple clumsily out to clear their names. Sandler was last seen in Hubie Halloween as the aforementioned deli everyman and was universally lauded for his role in Uncut Gems as gambler Howard Ratner. Hotel Transylvania 4, once again starring Sandler as Count Dracula, comes out later this year.
Now that we know Adam Sandler wants to work with Dwayne Johnson, it’s so easy to dream on all the possibilities.
