Scorpion King Reboot - What We Know So Far
The Scorpion King may not have become a classic like its predecessor The Mummy but it still holds a special place in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's heart, as it was his first ever lead role. It transformed him from WWE star to action movie star. Now, he's bringing it back for a remake, although it's going to be a little different.
Universal Studios and Seven Bucks Productions, the production company co-founded by Johnson and Dany Garcia, are developing it, according to The Hollywood Reporter. You might not know the name Seven Bucks, but you've certainly heard of their Johnson-led action adventure films, like Rampage, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and the recent Jumanji sequels. Their films have been pretty big hits, so it's easy to imagine The Scorpion King joining their action-adventure comedy lineup.
Here's everything we know so far.
When is the release date for The Scorpion King reboot?
Seven Bucks Productions and Universal have yet to announce a release date, but they have said that The Scorpion King reboot's script will be written by Jonathan Herman, who penned the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Straight Outta Compton. However, they haven't named a director, so the film must be a couple years out and in the very early stages of development. It's highly unlikely we'll see it in 2021. Seven Bucks has many other films currently in the works, like Jungle Cruise, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Doc Savage, but The Scorpion King is a special one.
"The original Scorpion King was a crucial catalyst helping to catapult us into the world of film," Garcia said in a statement to THR. "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."
Who is in the cast of The Scorpion King reboot?
Johnson's first film part was the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns, and then his first lead role was The Scorpion King in The Scorpion King. The guy's got some serious history with the character, but he will apparently not be reprising the role in the reboot. He's already got a slew of projects in various stages of production, but he might play a small role.
"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," Johnson said in the statement. "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." Based on this statement, it seems possible that they'll pick a relatively unknown actor for the part of the Scorpion King to help bolster someone else's career.
What is the plot of The Scorpion King reboot?
Johnson's Scorpion King was originally a half-scorpion-half-man antagonist in 2001's The Mummy Returns before he became the human hero of his own movie in the 2002 spinoff prequel The Scorpion King. The movie was set in the desert, thousands of years in the past, and followed Johnson's warrior character Mathayus as he and his allies fought to keep the evil Memnon from conquering and killing more people. Memnon attempted to become The Scorpion King, but ultimately Mathayus claimed the title.
We don't know much about the remake's plot at this point, but we do know that it won't be set in the distant past. Instead, it will take place in modern times, like the negatively received 2017 remake of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. However, in The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King was killed, so it's possible this reboot won't take place in that timeline. In the original films, it was never explained how Johnson's character went from hero to villain, so perhaps the remake will delve into that story. Alternatively, we could see an altogether new character take on the Scorpion King title.
It remains to be seen if The Scorpion King will turn out successful, like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle's addition to the Jumanji story, or go the way of the box office flop The Mummy reboot. We'll keep you updated on the progress as soon as more information becomes available.