ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2014
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:
He says he is looking forward to filming “Jumanji” and giving back to the isles
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The multimedia juggernaut that is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The television and film star who is popular on social media is still riding high off the success of his summer movie blockbuster, “Central Intelligence,” and is nearing the end of a second successful season of “Ballers” on cable network HBO. He’ll also star as the voice of Maui in the animated feature “Moana,” scheduled for release by Disney on Thanksgiving.
After arriving in Honolulu last week, Johnson is set to team up with Kevin Hart again in a reboot of 1995’s “Jumanji,” which originally starred comedy icon Robin Williams as Alan Parrish. Johnson will play a character named Dr. Bravestone.
Johnson made an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday to discuss the new film, donning traditional Polynesian attire at 3 a.m. Hawaii time to perform a Samoan slap dance on camera before answering a few questions. He said the follow-up of the original movie, directed by Jake Kasdan and based on the children’s book by author Chris Van Allsburg, is already off to a good start with the addition of co-stars Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas.
“This ‘Jumanji’ is a continuation of the ‘Jumanji’ story we all love,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of things that feels like we’re setting ourselves up for nice success.”
Johnson added that the opportunity to shoot in Hawaii was not by chance and that he looked forward to giving something back to the state where he spent part of his childhood.
“I got in a lot of trouble here when I was a kid trying to stay on the right path, and just to be able to come back these days, (with) who I am today and bring a movie like this, this size and magnitude to Hawaii (is great),” he said. “The jobs that it creates for all the hardworking locals is such a cool thing.”
“Jumanji” is expected to arrive in theaters in July. Johnson said filming will ramp up on Oahu starting Sept. 19.