Dwayne Johnson to play his 'dream role' in Hawaiian movie

Writer: Florey DM

Dwayne Johnson has been wanting to bring this character to life on the big screen ever since he started his acting career.

30 Aug – Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has just been crowned with another big screen role but this time it holds an even bigger meaning for the actor as he calls this his 'dream role'.

"From the day I began my Hollywood career (2001), my dream was to bring this legacy to life," he recently posted on social media.

The legacy he talks about here is none other than King Kamehameha, the legendary Hawaiian king who was the first to unite the warring islands of Hawaii.

Deadline brought news that Warner Bros and New Line have won an auction for the movie focused on the king.

Simply titled "The King", The Rock is of course starring as the titular character with Robert Zemeckis ("Allied", "Forrest Gump") directing from a script by Randall Wallace ("Braveheart").

The movie will follow the Hawaiian king as he fulfills the prophecy that surrounded his life since birth. He took control of Hawaii's destiny, forcibly unifying the warring islands as they unite to fight off foreign ships from Europe.

The project, along with its cast, director and producers, has already been blessed by a Hawaiian Kahu (priest) in a ceremony held in Hawaii last year.

Robert Zemeckis (right) will be directing The Rock in "The King" (Photo source: Deadline).

Like The Rock said, the wrestler-turned-actor has been vocal about playing the legendary king since he started his acting career and he almost had his chance too in 2002, when it was announced that he was to star in Sony Pictures' King Kamehameha biopic.

That was not well-received, however, since the actor, who is of Samoan and African-American ancestry, was deemed "too Samoan" for the role even though he grew up in Hawaii.

Things had been quiet for the project until two years later, in 2004, it was revealed that the title had been changed to "Battle for Paradise" and "Kleopatra" writer Karen Essex was rewriting the script done by Greg Poirier.

But looks like that project never came to fruition, leaving The Rock still pining to play the role, until now.

"In Polynesian culture we have a belief, that something isn't done when it's ready... it's done when it's right," said the actor. After 16 years, finally the time is right for The Rock to play The King.