Dwayne Johnson has made a name for himself in the action sphere. He is a common name to every moviegoer with some notable action movies to his name like the Fast & Furious franchise, the Jumanji movies, and The Red Notice. But The Rock received a serious blow after his Black Adam performed poorly even after an insane hype surrounding his first DC flick. However, it reminded us of another of his movies that failed despite having a lot of potential- The Rundown.
The Rundown was released in 2003 and was one of the earliest ventures of Dwayne Johnson. It starred him alongside a commendable cast consisting of Rosario Dawson, Seann William Scott, and Christopher Walken.
Why did Dwayne Johnson’s The Rundown fail?
Precisely, the 2003 movie was the third feature in the filmography of Dwayne Johnson and was known internationally as Welcome to the Jungle. Despite being a huge financial failure, the movie made a name for being a good entertainer and has also garnered a positive reception.
The story of the Peter Berg directorial was centered around the bounty hunter Beck played by the Rock who is given one last mission to find his employer’s son Scott in Brazil. The movie was a fun action entertainer and was well-received by both the audience and the critics. But unfortunately, The Rundown failed at the box office and could amass only $80.9 million against a budget of $85 million.
But even after suffering a loss of $4.1 million, the makers wanted to move on with a sequel and even started working on it actively. While it can’t be said why the movie even after having an electrifying cast and positive word-of-mouth failed badly at the box office, Peter Berg wanted to go a level up with the sequel and add more entertainment value to it.
What happened to The Rundown 2?
The team of The Rundown was actively involved with a sequel for a long time but following that we haven’t gotten any hopeful updates recently. The director Peter Berg wrote the sequel keeping the comedian and Dwayne Johnson’s Jumanji co-star Kevin Hart in his mind. But according to him, he would also love to have Jonah Hill in the movie.
Also Read: Best Dwayne Johnson Movies That Deserve More Recognition
As reported by Collider, director Peter Berg stated:
“We’ve been talking about it. You know, I wanted to do it with Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. If I could get Jonah Hill, I’d do it tomorrow. If I could get Dwayne and Jonah Hill, I’d do it tomorrow.”
Then when the director was asked if it was possible, he added that “anything’s possible”. Berg added that he was desperate to have Jonah Hill and The Rock’s duo decorate the movie with commendable humor and entertainment.
“Anything’s possible. We want to do it, it’s just hard to get everybody, you know. It’s on our minds. We actually wrote a script. But I want Jonah Hill, so reach out to Jonah. Pressure Jonah to do it. If Jonah Hill would do it, I’m in.”
In 2020, it was reported by Peter Berg that Johnson’s busy schedule was posing an obstacle to the film but still, it was in the works. With The Rock’s upcoming movies like The Red One and his reunion with the Fast & Furious franchise, it can’t be denied that the issue of a busy schedule won’t end anytime soon. Till then, we can do nothing but wait for the sequel to be one of the most underrated Dwayne Johnson movies.
The Rundown can be streamed on Peacock Premium.
Source: Collider / ScreenRant
