Raise a hand if you’ve read this before: A major Hollywood studio plans to turn the epic story of Kamehameha the Great into a major motion picture with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the lead role.
The latest development in the long and tortuous effort to bring Hawaii’s most famous alii to the big screen broke on Wednesday when Johnson announced on Instagram that he would assume the lead role in Warner Bros./New Line Cinema’s upcoming film, “The King.”
“From the day I began my Hollywood career (2001), my dream was to bring this legacy to life,” Johnson wrote. “In Polynesian culture we have a belief, that something isn’t done when it’s ready … it’s done when it’s right. The time is right. The one who walks alone. #Culture #History #Mana #The King #KAMEHAMEHA.”
Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis (“Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump”) will direct the film, which will be based on a script by Randall Wallace (“Braveheart”).
The project was developed by Seven Bucks Production, a company founded by Johnson and Dany Garcia, and sold at auction to Warner Bros./New Line.
“It’s a very early stage of development right now but we’re excited to hear the announcement today by the Rock and his team,” said Georja Skinner, chief officer of the Creative Industries Division of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. “We’re a long way from having a script or a schedule for filming but we’re staying in touch and we hope to have updates shortly.”
Johnson had been attached to one of two previous bids to bring Kamehameha to the screen in the early 2000s. That project, “Kamehameha,” was written by former Maui resident Greg Poirier (“Rosewood”) and picked up by Columbia Pictures but never produced.
At the time, Johnson’s reported casting as Kamehameha was met with consternation, particularly in Hawaii, by those who felt it was inappropriate for such a historical Hawaiian figure to be played by an actor who is not Hawaiian. (Johnson is half Samoan and half African-American.)
For Lilikala Kameeleihiwa, author, historian and senior professor at the University of Hawaii’s Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, the new project repeats the fundamental problems of the previous efforts.
“Kamehameha is a grand chief of Hawaii and not some Hollywood Disney character,” she said. “It is totally inappropriate to have a non-Hawaiian actor play him. There must be a hundred descendents of Kamehameha who could play the part.”
Further, Kameeleihiwa said, “If ever a film should be made (about Kamehameha), it should be written, in Hawaiian, by one of Kamehameha’s descendents. It’s their kuleana.”
Johnson’s casting in the film comes during a time of heightened sensitivity in Hollywood to matters of cultural appropriation, ethical representation and whitewashing.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Johnson stated: “The response to our King Kamehameha announcement has been incredible worldwide. A true privilege and dream for me to bring King Kamehameha’s legacy to life on the silver screen. The cultural and historical significance of this role, I hold with the highest respect and reverence; and, I’m honored to share the epic story of our people and culture with the world. Imua!”
