It seems movies based on video games are still incredibly hot despite the fact that most would agree that we haven’t had a truly great one quite yet. There have been some good ones, but there has yet to be a movie that’s done for video games what X-Men and Spider-Man did for comic books. Dwayne Johnson, the biggest movie star in the world, has tried a couple of times to make a blockbuster video game movie, and he’s apparently going to try again, and somehow there are people who are hoping The Rock makes a Gears of War movie despite the fact that Dave Bautista is standing right there.
Recently it was revealed a movie based on a popular video game franchise is one of the film’s Dwayne Johnson has coming up. The game is one that he is personally a fan of, though he did not reveal what that franchise was. This has, of course, led to a lot of speculation from fans about what the movie/game is, and one of the names being thrown out by fans is Gears of War.
Gears of War is one of the video game series that has had a movie adaptation in development hell for quite some time, so it’s certainly possible that this could be the video game in question. But I certainly hope that isn’t the case because if the world is going to get a Gears of War movie, it needs to get one starring Dave Bautista. Big Dave has already spoken about his personal desire to play Marcus Fenix, the franchise’s main character. Bautista already looks more like the character than The Rock does too, which isn’t necessary, but doesn’t hurt.
I love The Rock. I enjoy his movies most of the time, and I’ve found him to be a ridiculously charming human being in person, but he’s just not the right fit to lead a Gears of War movie. Dwayne Johnson can play a badass, but he’s at his best when said badass is at least a little bit charming. Marcus Fenix is not that kind of role.
Dave Bautista isn’t just the guy who wants to lead the Gears of War movie, he’s the right actor for the role. The game franchise, about humans at war with alien monsters on another planet, goes for a fairly serious tone. A Gears of War movie could be a pretty dramatic military war story if that was the intention, and Bautista feels like a better fit there.
To be sure, there are a hundred other video game franchises that Dwayne Johnson could be talking about beyond Gears of War. While we haven’t heard much about a Call of Duty movie in recent years, it seems like only a matter of time before one happens, and that’s an even bigger franchise. There’s not exactly a shortage of video game protagonists who The Rock could play and look the part.
As a fan of video games and movies, I certainly look forward to whatever project Dwayne Johnson is working on, but I really hope its anything but Gears of War. If we’re going to cast a former WWE champion in the lead role of that movie, we need to call Dave Bautista.