WWE News: John Cena teams with The Rock in an upcoming film

Cena and The Rock face each other in the ring at WrestleMania

What's the story?

John Cena is set to star in yet another movie, after his comedy hit, 'Blockers'. He is in talks to star in the Universal Pictures' film, 'The Janson Directive'.

Originally it was expected that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson would star in the film, but due to his busy schedule, he changed his role to one where he would produce the movie. The Rock used social media to announce the casting of his WWE colleague and friend Cena in the starring role instead, congratulating him.

Found my star! Been a long time coming and congrats to my good bud @JohnCena on landing the lead role for our film, THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. And if you screw up, I’m layin’ the smackdown on ya 😉💪🏾 Lets work hard and make a good one. @SevenBucksProd https://t.co/pfYKbBGHAa
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 30, 2018

Thanks to Variety.com for the heads up.

In case you didn't know...

'The Janson Directive' is based on a novel by Robert Ludlum, author of the famous Bourne Series. The plot of the novel follows a former covert operations agent, who leaves the agency due to the number of sanctioned serial killings and instead becomes a private security consultant. Through his business, he accepts jobs where he can help those in need or for causes he believes in.

The starring role was originally supposed to go to the Rock, but according to Variety.com, the Rock's extremely busy schedule meant himself and their studio decided it would be best if someone else starred in the role, so Johnson instead became a producer.

The heart of the matter

The Rock took to his social media outlets to let fans know about the casting of John Cena as the lead in the movie he is producing.

He talked about working towards making this film for a long time and announced that he had a star for the main role. He congratulated John Cena for landing the role and went on to talk about the history he shared with the 16-time WWE Champion. He mentioned being injured during a match at WrestleMania, and Cena bringing him Moonshine backstage to numb the pain.

The Rock finished off by saying that he hoped Cena would not 'screw up' the role as then he would come and deliver a People's Elbow on him.

You can see the video here:

Found my star! Congrats to my good bud John Cena on landing the lead role for our movie, THE JANSON DIRECTIVE. A project that myself, @sevenbucksprod, our production partners and Universal Studios have been developing for years now. Congrats man and I’m excited to go on this journey with you. Thank you for your commitment to the role and remember, as your producer if you screw up, I’m coming to set and droppin’ the People’s Elbow on ya. And you know first hand how devastating my elbow drops can be 😉💪🏾 Congrats my friend and let’s go make a good one. #JansonDirective #JohnCena #SevenBucksProds #CaptivateEnt #WeedRoadPics #MythologyEnt #UNIVERSAL

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Apr 30, 2018 at 2:07pm PDT

This is the first time Cena and the Rock are set to work together in a movie, despite both working in Hollywood over the last few years.

What's next?

John Cena is set to star in the upcoming spin-off of the Transformers, 'Bumblebee' and alongside Avengers Infinity War actor, Robert Downey Jr. in The Voyage of Dr Dolittle.

Author's take

Cena is slowly becoming one of bigger stars in Hollywood, and this film will only help his cause. Set to star in a film associated with the Rock will do him good and his starring role in a high-profile movie such as this will certainly do him no harm.

He still has a long way to go before he can match the standards set by the Rock, or even Dave Bautista after his role in Avengers: Infinity War.