John Cena has lined up a new leading man role – and he’s teaming up with old WWE rival Dwayne Johnson to do it – as he joins action-thriller The Janson Directive.
The Blockers actor will play former Navy SEAL Paul Janson, who works as a private security consultant while experiencing troubling flashbacks of the Vietnam War in the novel from Bourne author Robert Ludlum.
Johnson, who was originally set to play the lead in the movie, announced Cena’s casting in a video on his Instagram account where he described the star as his “good buddy” and shared memories from their main event matches at two consecutive WrestleMania shows in 2012 and 2013.
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He said Cena is “committed” to making the role work but said that, as his producer, he’s prepared to come to set and “drop a People’s Elbow” if anything goes awry.
Akiva Goldsman is penning the script for The Janson Directive, adapting the Ludlum novel from 2002 – published a year after the author’s death.
It’s the latest in a strong line of roles for Cena who, after cameos in Trainwreck and Sisters, took on one of the leading parts in sex comedy Blockers earlier this year, as well as voicing the title character in animated movie Ferdinand.
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He is also signed on to play the lead role in an adaptation of the Duke Nukem video game franchise and will appear in Transformers spin-off movie Bumblebee this year.
