Martin Scorsese and Dwayne Johnson could be teaming up for a new movie, and fans online are pretty surprised at the pairing.
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As announced by Deadline, a new Scorsese-directed drama is in development, with Johnson set to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt.
The film is being described as Goodfellas meets The Departed set in Hawaii, telling the story of a real-life figure who “battled encroaching rivals for control of organized crime” on the islands.
The news provoked some strong reactions online, with many fans shocked by the idea of Scorsese and Johnson working together.
One fan shared a post on X that said: “dwayne johnson in a scorsese movie is something i never ever thought would actually happen”. Another wrote, “dwayne johnson of all people leading a martin scorcese film???”, whilst another said that “Dwayne Johnson being in the same sentence as Martin Scorsese was not on my bingo card”.
dwayne johnson in a scorsese movie is something i never ever thought would actually happen https://t.co/tWRryQW9Xw
— morgane (@H0NEYM00NWALK) February 20, 2025
dwayne johnson of all people leading a martin scorcese film???pic.twitter.com/usKGHZhX4r https://t.co/T5p3bPLdZO
— vivi 🖍️ (@channelserve) February 20, 2025
i want to cheer and celebrate emily blunt starring in a martin scorsese movie but i cannot get passed the dwayne johnson of it all like what am i reading what is going on here this cannot possibly be real?? https://t.co/XuDQqB1FcB
— Luke (@qLxke_) February 20, 2025
The Rock in a Scorsese film is crazy… but is this like the third film Dwayne and Emily Blunt will work on together? It's like they really had a good time filming Jungle Cruise and have been inseparable ever since! Idk… I support their love team! https://t.co/s0eI5u2aBB
— 🕯Sophia🕯⊃∪∩⪽ 🕯Nosferatu spoilers (@Dyad_InTheForce) February 20, 2025
X user @baileylikemovie remarked on the contrast between this potential project and Johnson’s previous work, writing: “Dwayne Johnson going from Red One to Safdie/Scorsese movies back to back has gotta be the funniest trajectory change of all time what the fuck is going on.”
Another commented on the thorny topic of the film, writing: “scorsese is still one of the greatest to ever do it but him attempting to dive into the rabbit hole of hawaiian racial and sociopolitical tensions scares me so much it might send me into an early grave”.
Dwayne Johnson going from Red One to Safdie/Scorsese movies back to back has gotta be the funniest trajectory change of all time what the fuck is going on https://t.co/fM624dY7Dz
— bailey (@baileylikemovie) February 20, 2025
scorsese is still one of the greatest to ever do it but him attempting to dive into the rabbit hole of hawaiian racial and sociopolitical tensions scares me so much it might send me into an early grave
— marty – pinned! 🍉 (@martynovasucks) February 20, 2025
Will Dwayne Johnson become one of Scorsese's frequent collaborators? https://t.co/wfs7ZDEqUU
— James Gilbert (@JamesGilbert___) February 20, 2025
Ooooooooooh okay now THIS is a movie I really want to see!!! 👀
Martin Scorsese directing The Rock? Now THAT is interesting. 👀 https://t.co/s81vcHfPn1 pic.twitter.com/j8SxPaoeBU
— Jacob Dominguez (@sonofsunday129) February 20, 2025
The film will be written by American author and Vanity Fair correspondent Nick Bilton. According to Deadline, it “focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands.”
“In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land.”
“It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”
This could also reunite between Scorsese and DiCaprio, who most recently saw success with the acclaimed and Oscar-nominated Killers Of The Flower Moon. It was also announced in January 2025 that the duo could finally be bringing their long-gestating project The Devil In The White City to the big screen.
Johnson was last seen in festive action-adventure movie Red One, and heard reprising his voice role as Maui in Moana 2. He has several other projects in development, including new Fast & Furious movies and a Jungle Cruise sequel, also starring Blunt. This year he and Blunt will appear in The Smashing Machine, a biopic of legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr directed by Uncut Gems’ Benny Safdie – a role that signals Johnson’s intention to move into more dramatic work.