The Rock Behind the Wheel

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a big gamer. The former football star that made his name in professional wrestling has been gaming all of his life. Now that he's a bona fide Hollywood action star, Johnson has the opportunity to get involved in video games. Although lot of videogame offers come his way, Johnson hasn't worked on a video game since Vivendi's The Scorpion King and THQ's Smackdown! games (back when it was called the WWF).

All of that changed when Midway asked Johnson if he'd like to take on the leading virtual role of Alex Decker in Spy Hunter®: Nowhere to Run™. Johnson had already signed on to star as the live action Decker for Universal Pictures' big budget action film, which is slated for release next summer.

"The voice-over was really cool. I tried to
inject humor where you can, which I
thought the character should have,
and which the game has anyway."

"I thought it was a good fit, considering we're still developing the movie," said Johnson. "I was a big fan, so I was extremely enthusiastic about being part of this videogame."

He's in the Game
Johnson sat down with Midway's executives and developers and they showed him the storyboard art and a video montage of a very rough cut of what the game could possibly look like. Johnson said he was blown away by the footage.

"Between the details of the game, the graphics, the special effects that they had, the game was very storyline driven," said Johnson. "It felt very much like a movie."

Johnson also loved the fact that players would be able to step out of the Interceptor car for the first time.

To bring Decker to life, Johnson traveled to Midway's studio with his stunt double, who happens to be his cousin.

"We put together a whole bunch of great moves," said Johnson, who made sure some of his signature wrestling moves made it into the game. "The voice-over was really cool. I tried to inject humor where you can, which I thought the character should have, and which the game has anyway."

A Hybrid Franchise
The focus of the game, and an angle that the film will also take, is setting up high stakes action where there's always a high level of anticipation in every scene. Johnson said was important to give Decker a sense of humor, no matter what the situation.

"The car is like the co-star in the movie with
how it morphs into a motorcycle and into a boat."

"I felt that was really important and that's how Midway helped me with this character," sad Johnson. "I think whenever we do make the movie, I would have already been there because of the character. I was making sure that Alex, he was big physically, which was fine, but that he had a sense of humor, as well."

Johnson, who was a fan of the game dating back to its arcade days, is resigned to share the billing in the movie with The Interceptor.

"The car is like the co-star in the movie with how it morphs into a motorcycle and into a boat," said Johnson. "It's the most advanced weapons assault vehicle on the planet. It's great. Eventually, Alex has this relationship with this car. The only thing that's missing is the car talking."

Another Game Movie
Spy Hunter will mark the second time Johnson has starred in a videogame movie. Regarding the movie Doom, he commented, "I think what we found was a lot of times, and it's like with anything in the entertainment industry, a successful video game doesn't always equate to a successful movie."

One thing he did learn from his long stint on the set of Doom is to make sure Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run is filmed somewhere else.

"I would highly recommend that you don't go to Prague to shoot your movie like we did for five frickin' months," said Johnson. "I talk to people all the time who have gone there, and Prague is a gorgeous city, the history is fascinating, but we were there for five months and we had to shoot on a soundstage. And there's not a lot of smiling in Doom. From the first five minutes people are dying and the monsters are coming—it was like that every day for months."

Johnson said he's enjoyed his work with the Spy Hunter game, and he's open to reprising his role in a sequel, as long as the story's right. On the film side, Universal has big plans for the Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run movie, which could make Johnson's Decker an American James Bond.

Article by John Gaudiosi