Universal Pictures has had such huge success with the “Jason Bourne” series starring first Matt Damon and then Jeremy Renner, that it was only time before they went back to Bourne creator Robert Ludlum looking for more material.
According to Variety, the studio has bought the rights to Ludlum’s 2002 post-humous release The Janson Directive and are in early negotiations with Dwayne Johnson, once known as the professional wrestler “The Rock,” to lead what they hope will be another franchise.
Johnson, who would also come on board as a producer, would play a special ops agent who leaves covert operations to go into business as a private security consultant, helping those in need along with a sharpshooter.
If the deal goes through, it would add another franchise to Johnson’s belt following his huge success as part of the ensemble cast of Universal’s popular “Fast and Furious” movies as well as joining “G.I. Joe” with 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation which Paramount already has someone writing a sequel to.
Fast & Furious 7 is scheduled for release next April, and Johnson also appears later this month in MGM and Paramount’s Hercules, which they’re hoping might also be a franchise for the popular action star. Johnson is currently in production on the disaster flick San Andreas and has finished production on the HBO series “Ballers.”
(Photo Credit: WENN.com)
