Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has landed a major role in a Hawaii-set crime thriller directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese.
According to Deadline, Johnson will star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt in a film described as a mix between The Departed and Goodfellas. Nick Bilton (The Idol, Fake Famous) is penning the screenplay.
The film is set during a turbulent era in Hawaii’s history, focusing on a rising mob boss who battles rival crime factions in a violent struggle for power. Deadline describes it as follows:
“The film focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands. It was a bloody battle, the kind of terrain Scorsese covered in both Goodfellas and The Departed. In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land. It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”
This marks another collaboration between Johnson and Blunt, who have starred together in multiple films, most notably Jungle Cruise. With Scorsese at the helm and an A-list cast, this crime thriller is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated projects in development.
