Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to star as country music legend, Charley Pride

I'm learning to love Dwayne Johnson as an actor again. After getting off to a rockin' good start with The Mummy flicks, The Rundown, and yes even Walking Tall, I cringed like most when his career took a turn for the sugary with junk like Tooth Fairy and The Gameplan. This was not the Rock I knew. Lately he's been working hard to correct his recent errors. Last year saw him in Faster, which I enjoyed quite a bit. And this weekend he has one of the most epic brawls ever with Vin Diesel in Fast Five. Johnson's back on the right track.

There remains a part of me that wants to see what he can do with broader material. Johnson isn't just a guy who can dish out a mean clothesline, he's a consummate entertainer with potential to be a true leading man. His best chance to prove it could be coming up, as he's signed on to star and produce a biopic based on the life of African-American country music legend, Charley Pride.


The film had been in the works awhile back, with Craig Brewer(Hustle and Flow) directing and Terrence Howard set to star. But as Pride himself explains it, the money folks behind it decided to go in a different direction. He tells the Telegraphjournal...

"But then the ball got fumbled. New management took over the studio that was ready to begin site work on it. And a decision was made to put all their resources behind thrillers - fast actioners. They felt that was where the big box office money was then."

Pride notes that Terrence Howard is off working on other things, but likes the choice of Johnson to replace him...

“Now it’s back on track again but with action and comedy star Dwayne Johnson portraying me in the title role. Terrence, it seems, is tied up on other involvements for a few years. Terrence is no doubt a more in-depth actor academically, but Dwayne is such a force on screen. It startled me a little at first, but he flew down to Dallas and spent a day with me just sitting, talking recently. And when he left it was like parting with an old friend. We had such similar views on so many things,”

This seems to indicate that Brewer is still on board to direct. I hope so. It's been too long since Black Snake Moan.

Pride's story seems perfect for the big screen treatment. His initial love wasn't music, but professional baseball. He had a somewhat successul career playing in Negro Leagues for awhile, before being called up to the Yankees farm team. He eventually was called into the Army and served for a couple of years before returning briefly to baseball. He would then take up country music when encouraged to do so by country music icons Red Foley and Red Sorvine. Pride would ultimately earn a recording contract, scoring his first major hit in 1966 with "Just Between You and Me".  His first #1 would come three years later with "All I Have to Offer You is Me". Pride revealed in his autobiography, Pride: The Charley Pride Story, that he is a long time sufferer of manic depression.

The question is whether or not Johnson can handle the musical numbers that will likely be a central piece of the film. My answer to that question is an emphatic "Yes!" Even though it's a joke performance, check this out from WWE Raw just a few years ago....