One of our favorite Darren Aronofsky films is “The Wrestler,” and he may be teaming up with a former wrestler, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Aronofsky is in early conversations to direct “Breakthrough,” a drama that will co-star Dwayne Johnson and is set up at A24, a source told IndieWire.
“Breakthrough,” written by Zeke Goodman, would co-star Johnson in a film set at the turn-of-the-millennium Southern California about an alienated young man who comes under the influence of a motivational guru, whose intoxicating charm masks his morally questionable methods of manipulation and his own concealed darkness.
Johnson is already attached to the project in the supporting role as the motivational guru, and the film would still be searching for its young lead.
Related Stories
A24 did not comment.
A24 will produce and finance “Breakthrough,” and Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions will also produce the film. Stacey Sher’s Penny Productions will also produce. Jacob Epstein and Justin Wolf will executive produce via Lighthouse Management and Media.
This would be the second A24 film for Aronofsky, who directed “The Whale” and helped Brendan Fraser win an Oscar, and it’s also the second A24 film for Johnson, who is starring in “The Smashing Machine” from director Benny Safdie. Johnson in the film plays Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts fighter and UFC champion, and he stars in the film alongside Emily Blunt.
Aronofsky’s next feature is “Caught Stealing,” which stars Austin Butler and arrives in theaters this August from Sony. The film is a genre-bending, neo-noir and psychological drama set in the ’90s following a former baseball player brought into a criminal underworld. Aronofsky has also kept very busy, including directing the feature for the Sphere in Vegas “Postcards from the Edge,” and he has a short film that he produced as part of Google’s Deep Mind program called “Ancestra” that was made via generative AI and premiered at Tribeca this past week.
Deadline first reported the news.
