No rest for ‘The Rock’: Busy actor to star in ‘Die Hard’-style flick set in China

We’re beginning to wonder just how many Dwayne Johnson clones are running around Hollywood. Or maybe he’s secretly part of a trio of identical triplets. Those explanations seem roughly as plausible as one human man taking on the volume of work that he currently has on his slate.

According to IMDB, Johnson has five upcoming projects that are listed as “announced,” two listed as “filming,” one in preproduction, one in post-production, and one that recently wrapped. According to Deadline, however, he has somehow found room for one more.

The actor will soon star in Skyscraper, an old-school star vehicle billed as “Die Hard in China.” The film is now officially in the works after a multiple studio bidding war ended with Legendary purchasing the rights and Universal handling distribution. The pitch is said to have generated multiple seven-figure offers, with Sony and Paramount among the many interested parties.

The film will be written and directed by Central Intelligence director Rawson Marshall Thurber, but there has been no word yet on who will be starring alongside the man formerly known as The Rock. Clearly, his name alone is now capable of selling a script and — with China making up an ever-larger share of the all-important foreign market — this film should be positioned to haul in some serious cash.

The larger story here is that Hollywood seems to be making a concerted effort to work more closely with The Middle Kingdom in the years to come. Case in point: The Legendary/Universal team is also working on The Great Wall, an English-language blockbuster starring Matt Damon that will be the first film of its kind to be produced in China. That film will be directed by Chinese helmer Zhang Yimou and is targeting a February 17, 2017, release date.

As for Skyscraper, the film has no release date of yet, but we’ll keep you updated as news breaks.