Fast & Furious Would Never Hit $7B If First Choice Actor Was Cast for Hobbs
It's hard to imagine that the producers even considered this actor for the role.
As a multiple champion of wrestling competitions, Dwayne Johnson has gained widespread fame in his field. So much so that his autobiography, The Rock Says, reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Despite the fact that The Rock will appear in movies for the first time a year later.
The starring role in the movie The Scorpion King not only launched the athlete's acting career, but also brought in a lot of money.
The paycheck of $5.5 million was even listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest salary for a first starring role.
Dwayne Johnson Became One of the Main Stars of Fast & Furious
But perhaps Dwayne Johnson would not have become such an influential and recognizable Hollywood star without one explosive ingredient in his filmography – the Fast and Furious franchise, where he played Luke Hobbs in the fifth and subsequent installments.
The producers made two brilliant decisions while working on Fast Five: they crossed it with a heist movie and invited Dwayne Johnson to play the role of the antagonist.
The result is well known – the undisputed best film in the franchise, which gave Fast and the Furious its current look and spirit, crossed racing with unrealistic action and grossed $629 million at the worldwide box office.
It's hard to deny that Dwayne Johnson was the missing piece of the puzzle, playing a major role in the franchise's popularity and commercial success – 10 films have grossed a groundbreaking $7.3 billion.
Men in Black Star Was Almost Cast as Hobbs
What few people know is that not only could the role of Hobbs have gone to another actor, it was originally written with another actor in mind. And that actor was Men in Black star Tommy Lee Jones. In an interview, Vin Diesel said:
"There was a girl named Jen Kelly who said, 'I would love to see you guys work together on-screen.' And so, we gave a role that was initially written for Tommy Lee Jones but we gave it to Dwayne, and he shined in it."
Surprising, right? Although Jones' career-defining role is also in an action movie as Agent K, it's almost impossible to imagine him playing the bald, pumped-up and always sweating Hobbs.
Source: Slash Film