The Rock reportedly has real-life issues with popular co-star; upcoming projects revealed
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was rumored to be on a WWE return for months prior to the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event for a match against Roman Reigns. However, the ship has sailed. The Rock is an incredibly busy and popular star in Hollywood and was even part of one of the most commercially successful franchises in the world.
According to reports by The Sun, the actor has been having issues with his co-star in the Fast series, Vin Diesel.
Apparently, this even resulted in Dwayne being replaced in Fast X by Jason Momoa, who was brought in to fill the void Johnson left when he officially announced his departure from the series back in 2021. Furthermore, a Hollywood insider claimed:
“Vin isn’t looking in the rearview mirror on this issue, he’s thinking about the future and right now, the future doesn’t include a reconciliation with Dwayne. In fact, Vin is intent on topping the box office of all the movies that included Dwayne with Fast X, and the studio is supporting him. Nobody is telling Vin to stuff his pride and make nice with Dwayne. Vin’s vision for these movies is being supported in full, end of story.” [H/T: The Sun]
Fellow WWE Superstar John Cena, who entered the franchise in the ninth installment, will reprise his role in the tenth. The Rock last appeared as the character of Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious and its spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw.
The Rock was also rumored to replace Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as well as co-star in Disney's Aladdin 2.
Despite Will Smith reportedly signing on to return as Genie in the sequel, as per a report, Disney is looking for a script that could involve multiple Genies. Whether this means both actors coming together for the Aladdin sequel remains to be seen.
An Instagram post by The Rock that could have indicated beef with Vin Diesel
The alleged dispute between The Rock and Vin Diesel began way back in 2016 while the two were filming the eighth installment of the long-running franchise.
At the time, Johnson had commended his female co-stars but chastised some anonymous male co-stars. In an Instagram post which has since been deleted, he stated:
"My female costars are always amazing and I love'em. My male costars, however, are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't. The ones that don't are too chicken s*** to do anything about it anyway,” he continued. “Candy a****. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I'm not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you're right." [H/T: The Sun]
In a November 7, 2021, Instagram post by Vin Diesel, the star referred to Dwayne as "Uncle Dwayne" and "little brother," coaxing the latter to return to the franchise as Hobbs.
Johnson responded to this on CNN in December later that year, claiming that he personally told Diesel that he won't be returning to the franchise.
The WWE legend also added that he did not like Vin Diesel bringing up his children and the death of Paul Walker, calling it an "example of his manipulation."