Back in Rolling Stone’s expansive feature on The Rock, we learned a lot of about the pro wrestling superstar turned box office mega draw. In between the stories about his own battles with depression and his Fast And Furious rivalry with Vin Diesel, there was also a little nugget about his experience with Rampage that sheds some light on just how big his star has gotten. As it turns out, The Rock’s relationship with his audience has enough power behind it now that he’s willing to take a stand to make changes to a script.
For Rampage, this moment came when Johnson got his hands on the first script for the film according to Rolling Stone:
“So the script comes in, and I’m reading it,” Johnson says. “And at the end of it – George dies! I’m like, ‘No. Did I miss something? George can’t be dead.’ But I go back, and yeah.”
This ending was enough for The Rock to pump the brakes and draw a red line in the sand with the filmmakers behind the video game adaptation.
“I don’t like a sad ending,” he says. “Life brings that shit – I don’t want it in my movies. When the credits roll, I want to feel great.” His concerns went up the chain of command, and “we had a big meeting where they gave me all the reasons they thought George should die,” he says. “He sacrifices himself saving the world. Killing these animals who had ill intentions to harm mankind. He sacrifices himself like a brave soldier. OK. But this is a movie! There’s a crocodile the size of a football stadium – we’re not making Saving Private Ryan…
For years I’ve built a trust with them that they’re gonna come to my movies and feel good. So every once in a while, you have to drop this card, which is: You’re gonna have to find another actor. We need to figure something out, otherwise I’m not gonna do the movie.”
The Saving Private Ryan line is pretty good, you have to admit. It’s also funny to talk about the dramatic decisions in a film featuring a giant ape, wolf, and crocodile that is based on a video game from 1986. He should just be happy they didn’t try to go with the initial story that was closer to the video game. It’d The Rock in a mo-cap suit playing a giant gorilla at that point, putting that trust with his fans to the test.
(Via Rolling Stone / SlashFilm)
