PAPATUI x Walmart Holiday Surprise Event with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
On Friday, December 18 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his men’s care brand PAPATUI made an appearance at Walmart in the Burbank Empire Center, to surprise kids and families from the YMCA Los Angeles chapters. Families were given stockings filled with gifts, and Johnson gifted even provided each family with a $500 Walmart gift certificate and a year’s supply of PAPATUI.
Five lucky kids received “Papatui’s Dwanta Golden Ticket,” giving them the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fill their carts with as many toys as they could pile high. In addition to the surprise shopping spree, the year’s supply of Papatui, and the $500 gift cards, every child received an extra toy from their personal wishlist, ensuring everyone was overwhelmed with joy,
Dwayne Johnson has a personal connection to the YMCA as he spent time in their Hawaii branches when he was growing up. This surprise gifting moment reflects PAPATUI’s commitment to showing up for communities, standing for taking better care, and creating impact beyond the aisle, especially during the holidays.
On Friday, December 18 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his men’s care brand PAPATUI made an appearance at Walmart in the Burbank Empire Center, to surprise kids and families from the YMCA Los Angeles chapters.
About PAPATUI PAPATUI is a men’s care brand founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, built on the belief that self-care should be clean, effective, and accessible to all men. Launched in 2024, PAPATUI was created to fill a long-standing gap in the grooming space. The brand offers efficacious, dermatologist-tested formulas with elevated ingredients and premium fragrances. From skincare to body care and beyond, PAPATUI delivers innovative solutions for all skin types helping men show up as their best, most confident selves every day.
In its first year, PAPATUI quickly made waves in the industry, earning accolades across the board, from the Esquire Grooming Awards for its Enhancing Tattoo Stick to the GQ Grooming Awards for its 48-Hour Antiperspirant Deodorant and the Men’s Health Grooming Awards for its Rejuvenating Facial Toner. The brand has also been recognized by EBONY, GLAMOUR, and Glossy, which named PAPATUI the 2024 Men’s Beauty Brand of the Year. As PAPATUI continues to grow, it remains committed to delivering clean, hardworking products that raise the standard in men’s personal care.
The forthcoming Sony sequel film’s team took to Instagram on Wednesday to share the first photo of the franchise stars in costume following the recent start of production. Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black are featured in the image that includes the caption, “Look who’s on the loose.”
Among those posting the photo was Hart, who added the caption, “Back in action and loving it… I missed you Jumanji … This one will be our biggest!”
This film follows 2017’s Jumanji: The Next Level, which rebooted the franchise after Robin Williams starred in a 1995 feature version adapting Chris Van Allsburg’s 1981 children’s book. Jake Kasdan, who directed the 2017 movie and its 2019 sequel, returns to helm the untitled third film from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. It hits theaters Dec. 11, 2026.
The day prior, Johnson posted a video to Instagram of himself surprising fans on the Universal Studios backlot as he made his way to the set. “A little day one of Jumanji excitement,” the star said in the footage. “So good to be shooting in Los Angeles. I have not shot a film in Los Angeles in … I don’t know when, so it feels so good to bring a production back home to Los Angeles.”
He went on to reveal that his character will be wearing a necklace containing the dice that was used in the 1995 movie. “This is the dice from the original Jumanji with Robin Williams as a show of respect and a way of honoring Robin and this entire franchise that he started as we film our very last Jumanji,” Johnson explained.
The cast for the forthcoming film includes Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Lamorne Morris and Danny DeVito.
Last week, Johnson posted footage and images to Instagram from the new movie’s table read. “Amazing to get the whole gang back together, and our jaws were hurting from laughing so hard,” he wrote.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle focused on a group of teenage friends getting trapped inside a video game as a collection of adult avatars. It hit theaters in December 2017 and surpassed $950 million at the global box office. The 2019 sequel, subtitled The Next Level, topped $801 million globally.
Disney has released the first trailer for its live-action remake of “Moana,” starring Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson. Based on the animated version, the live-action version (also titled “Moana”) was announced in 2023 and is slated for release on July 10, 2026. Disney has now released the first trailer for the remake, which follows the same story as the animation, giving fans a first look at the island and people of Motunui.In April 2023, Dwayne Johnson announced that he would be returning as his character, Maui, from the animated original.“Deeply humbled to announce we’re bringing the beautiful story of MOANA to the live action big screen!” he wrote along with a video of him and his two younger daughters, Jasmine and Tiana, at the beach in O‘ahu. “This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people’s grace, mana and warrior strength. I wear our culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once in a lifetime opportunity to reunite with MAUI, inspired by the spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me. We’re honored to partner with @DisneyStudios to tell our story through the realm of music and dance, which at the core is who we are as Polynesian people. Much more to come, but until then What can I saaaaaay except…You’re welcome.”Also featured in the new trailer is Lagaʻaia as Moana, as well as Johnson as the shapeshifting demigod Maui, who can only be seen from behind as he takes on the form of an eagle.Per the trailer, the movie will feature songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original soundtrack, including “I Am Moana”, which Lagaʻaia sings throughout the teaser.Released in 2016, the original Disney Animation Studios film followed the titular character, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. Moana attempted to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, with the help of demigod Maui.”Moana,” the live-action remake, will release in theaters on July 10, 2026.
Disney has released the first trailer for its live-action remake of “Moana,” starring Catherine Lagaʻaia as Moana and Dwayne Johnson.
Based on the animated version, the live-action version (also titled “Moana”) was announced in 2023 and is slated for release on July 10, 2026. Disney has now released the first trailer for the remake, which follows the same story as the animation, giving fans a first look at the island and people of Motunui.
In April 2023, Dwayne Johnson announced that he would be returning as his character, Maui, from the animated original.
“Deeply humbled to announce we’re bringing the beautiful story of MOANA to the live action big screen!” he wrote along with a video of him and his two younger daughters, Jasmine and Tiana, at the beach in O‘ahu. “This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people’s grace, mana and warrior strength. I wear our culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once in a lifetime opportunity to reunite with MAUI, inspired by the spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me. We’re honored to partner with @DisneyStudios to tell our story through the realm of music and dance, which at the core is who we are as Polynesian people. Much more to come, but until then What can I saaaaaay except…You’re welcome.”
Also featured in the new trailer is Lagaʻaia as Moana, as well as Johnson as the shapeshifting demigod Maui, who can only be seen from behind as he takes on the form of an eagle.
Per the trailer, the movie will feature songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original soundtrack, including “I Am Moana”, which Lagaʻaia sings throughout the teaser.
Released in 2016, the original Disney Animation Studios film followed the titular character, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. Moana attempted to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, with the help of demigod Maui.
“Moana,” the live-action remake, will release in theaters on July 10, 2026.
Catherine Laga’aia and Dwayne Johnson are set to make a splash with the first trailer for Disney‘s live-action feature adaptation of Moana.
Director Thomas Kail’s remake of the original 2016 animated film hits theaters July 10, 2026. The trailer includes the title character performing the song “How Far I’ll Go,” which was featured in the initial movie.
Rounding out the cast are John Tui as Moana’s father, Chief Tui; Frankie Adams as Moana’s mother, Sina; and Rena Owen as Moana’s Gramma Tala.
Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Lin-Manuel Miranda serve as producers. Executive producing are Kail, Scott Sheldon, Charles Newirth and Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the 2016 film and its 2024 theatrical sequel.
Live-action remakes of popular animated properties continue to be a priority for Disney, which recently put a new version of 2010’s Tangledback in development after it was paused earlier this year following Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot’s live-action Snow White underperforming at the box office. The studio had a massive hit with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, while Barry Jenkins’ prequel movie Mufasa: The Lion King also had a strong showing when it debuted late last year.
Just a few days ago, we learned Jumanji 3—technically the fourth, but we kinda can’t count the original here—was happening, and would put a bow on these video game movies. The core quartet of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black are all back, and they won’t be alone.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Danny DeVito, Bebe Neuwirth, Lamorne Morris, Marin Hinkle, Nick Jonas and Rhys Darby are all returning for this next installment. All six were present in 2019’s The Next Level, with Jonas and Darby playing game characters Seaplane McDonough and Nigel Billingsley. In the real world, DeVito and Hinkle were the respective grandfather and mother of Eddie, one of the main kids first sucked into the video game. Morris cameoed in Next Level as a “Heater Guy,” and Neuwirth also cameoed, reprising her role as Nora Shepard from the original Robin Williams film.
There’s also some new blood coming in Sons of Anarchy actor Dan Hildebrand and Criminal Minds’ Jack Jewkes joining the cast. Their roles are currently top secret, ditto the film’s plot, which’ll pick up where Next Level left off. If you haven’t seen it in a while and forgot, a repairman accidentally fixed the Jumanji game, after which in-game animals burst into the real world, with the implication being the teens’ avatars followed suit. Beyond that, there’s no specifics on what shenanigans await the characters next.
Production on Jumanji 3 (or 4) only started this week, and we’ll learn more about it—including its title—ahead of its December 11, 2026 release.
Taylor Swift‘s Life of a Showgirl special theatrical event is rocking at the domestic box office, where it’s headed for a first-place finish with a weekend haul of $28 million to $32 million from 3,702 theaters, according to estimates from Swift’s team and partner AMC Theatres. Some distributors believe it could even approach $35 million.
Whatever the outcome, those numbers are in sharp contrast to ticket sales for the Dwayne Johnson-led biopic The Smashing Machine, which is getting knocked around in its domestic debut, marking what appears to be a career-low opening for the actor despite delivering a performance worthy of Oscar consideration. Playing in 3,345 theaters, the A24 release took ind $2.7 million Friday for a projected weekend gross of $6 million, versus the $12 million to $14 million it was expected to earn. The R-rated pic was slapped with a B- CinemaScore by moviegoers, but has fared well with critics.
Conversely, Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl earned a coveted A+ CinemaScore, just as her history-making concert film Eras Tour did. Nearly 90 percent of Friday’s moviegoers were female.
Swift went to great lengths to keep the Showgirl project top secret until the 11th hour (they almost succeeded, but not quite), much to the chagrin of other distributors who don’t like last-minute surprises. She announced the Oct. 3-5 special event on Sept. 19 in a well-orchestrated social media post informing fans that advance tickets would go on sale that day at 12:12 local time for $12, in keeping with Swift’s longtime relationship with numbers (Showgirl is her 12th studio album). Consumers can expect to pay notably more than $12 for premium large-format screenings.
Showgirl, playing in theaters for only three days, can best be described as a mix of music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and a series of lyric videos for tracks on her new album. And it’s anchored by the world premiere of the music video for Showgirl single “The Fate of Ophelia,” which she directed.
In 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour catapulted Swift to box office fame when it opened to a record-smashing $93.2 million domestically on its way to becoming the top-grossing concert film of all time with $261.6 million in global ticket sales. The superstar and her team financed the $15 million project, bypassing the Hollywood studio system in partnering with AMC Theatres to distribute the film. The cinema circuit is likewise releasing Showgirl in partnership with Variance Films in the U.S. and Canada, and with Piece of Magic Entertainment in other international markets.
According to THR‘s review of Showgirl, “The 89-minute cinematic experience — neither visual album nor concert film, and not quite a documentary — is strictly for the diehards. But while there’s something to be said for the communal experience of absorbing an album surrounded by dozens of like-minded fans, what’s actually being served up on screen is more filler than killer.”
Paul Thomas Anderson’s awards contender One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is falling to second place in its sophomore outing. The Warner Bros. film is expected to fall 51 percent to $10.8 million for a 10-day domestic total of $80 million.
From filmmaker Benny Safdie, Smashing Machine reunites Johnson with his Jungle Cruise co-star and good friend Emily Blunt, who played a key role in bringing Johnson and Safdie together. The film is based on the real-life story of Mark Kerr, a former college wrestler who battled trauma and an addiction to painkillers during the early years of the UFC.
The male-fueled movie — which marks the first time Johnson has pursued a place in the Oscar race — is looking at a third-place finish behind Showgirl and holdover One Battle After Another.
Swift’s Showgirl isn’t hurting Smashing Machine in terms of stealing away moviegoers, but it did swoop in and book a number of premium large-format screens that Smashing Machine had wanted.
Insiders close to the film say the tracking was overly aggressive due to Johnson’s star status, and that a $6 million start isn’t uncommon during awards season. More important than a big opening weekend is sustaining momentum. While that’s certainly true, many moviegoers don’t seem to be connecting with Smashing Machine thus far, based on the worrisome B- CinemaScore (for an adult drama, that’s like receiving a C).
A24 has worked magic before. Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale was neither a critical or box office hit in the U.S., yet that didn’t hurt its Oscar chances, with Brendan Fraser winning the Oscar for best actor. In 2019, the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, became both an awards darling and a box office success despite receiving a C+ CinemaScore.
One difference between Smashing Machine and those two films: A24 opened The Whale and Uncut Gems in only a handful of theaters in early December before expanding the two titles nationwide over Christmas (The Whale never played in more than 1,700 or so cinemas). Opening Smashing Machine in 3,345 locations is a far more aggressive move, although sources say A24 remains confident that the film will find its stride as word of mouth grows and becomes more positive. The indie distributor also believes Johnson will remain in the awards mix.
Another offering this weekend is James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which is being rereleased exclusively in 3D. Like Swift’s team, Cameron and partner 20th Century/Disney are using the box office for promotional purposes: this Christmas, Avatar: Fire and Ash opens.
Way of Water is playing in 90 percent of all Imax auditoriums domestically, but will have to share Dolby Cinema screens and other premium large-format auditoriums. Way of Water is projected to earn $2 million to $3 million domestically from 2,100 theaters.
Kerr hadn’t seen the finished film about his life until watching with the audience at this summer’s Venice Film Festival, where it received a rapturous response. Emily Blunt co-stars as Kerr’s then-girlfriend Dawn Staples in writer-director Benny Safdie‘s feature that hits theaters Friday and details Kerr’s fighting career and opioid addiction. The project is based on the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.
“The last scene was gut-wrenching, just the intensity of what was going on,” Kerr tells The Hollywood Reporter about The Smashing Machine. “DJ [Johnson] is sitting on my left and patting my leg. Benny’s on my right and patting my leg, and I ended up holding his hand for the last half-hour of the movie. I have so many emotions running through me, and the way that I’m releasing them is tapping my legs and my arm back and forth. Benny’s like, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK,’ and I just hold onto him. It’s just really amazing what they were able to capture and put on screen.”
A key point of discussion surrounding the film has been the extensive facial prosthetics that Johnson wore to portray Kerr. As it turns out, Kerr was initially unaware that Johnson’s look would so closely mirror his own.
Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine.
A24
“Nobody told me,” Kerr admits. “I had this idea and image that, ‘He’s just going to be DJ. He’s going to put a wig on,’ or something like that. The first time I saw him at prosthetics, I cussed at him for a minute. I’m looking at him, [and] he’s a doppelganger. He’s a mirror image of me. I’m looking at myself in front of me.”
One of Kerr’s agents, Mark Fenlon, tells THR that he sees the former fighter as a good fit for brand endorsements, speaking engagements, live sports broadcasting and potentially some acting gigs. “We expanded into the sports space somewhat recently, and we have had an eye on him for a while,” Fenlon says. “We’re really excited for this film to bring his personal journey to the masses. The film is an incredible tribute to Mark, his career and the struggles he’s overcome in life.”
Kerr agrees that the partnership with the agency feels like a timely fit. “They want to have a bigger footprint in taking retired athletes and making opportunities for them,” he explains. “I have a book that I’m working on right now [about my life], and that just fills in a lot of the spaces that are missing in this.”
He also feels continued support from Johnson as his onscreen counterpart: “Every single text or voice message that he’s ever left me, he’s left it with, ‘If you need anything, please call me.’ He’s a good person to have at your back.”
Kerr hopes that viewers of The Smashing Machine will appreciate that his addiction was exacerbated by “the shame and my inability to ask for help.” He adds, “Where I am now, [with] my ability to connect with another human being and ask for that help — it’s not a weakness, it’s a strength. So hopefully, [audiences] can watch it and understand what was going on with me at the time, [that I could] absolutely face-plant, dust myself off and move forward in my life. That’s the hope that anybody could have.”
She’s returning to theaters this weekend with a special event pic promoting her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, which comes out Friday. The big screen album release party, which will also feature the world premiere of the music video for Showgirl single “The Fate of Ophelia,” music videos and behind-the-scenes footage, is expected to tower over the competition and win the relatively quiet Oct. 3-Oct. 5 box office race with anywhere from $25 million to $35 million, if not more. Tracking suggests $35 million, while distributor AMC Theatres — which also partnered with the superstar musical artist on her record-breaking concert pic Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — is being more conservative in suggesting $25 million to $30 million.
Either way, that’s well ahead of opening weekend projections for its closest competitor, the Dwayne Johnson-led wrestling drama The Smashing Machine. That’s not exactly a surprise, considering Johnson’s latest outing is a specialty pic from A24, versus the sort of wide-appeal action movie The Rock is best known for. Smashing Machine, which made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival as this year’s awards season kicked off, is tracking to open in the $12 million to $14 million range.
Directed by Benny Safdie, Smashing Machine reunitues Johnson with his Jungle Cruise co-star and good friend Emily Blunt, who played a key role in bringing Johnson and Safdie together. The film is based on the real-life story of Mark Kerr, a former college wrestler who battled trauma and an addiction to painkillers during the early years of the UFC.
Another player to watch this weekend is James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which is being rereleased exclusively in 3D. Like Swift’s team, Cameron and partner 20th Century/Disney are using the box office for promotional purposes: this Christmas, Avatar: Ash and Fire opens.
Cameron’s Avatar movies have generally done well when rereleased, and this time out, the focus on Imax is an added bonus. The movie will be playing in 90 percent of all Imax auditoriums domestically but will have to share Dolby Cinema screens and other premium large-format auditoriums with the Showgirl release party. Way of Water is projected to earn $3 million to $4 million domestically from 2,100 theaters; rivals think it could approach $5 million.
Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl is only playing in cinemas for three days, and Swift’s team went to great lengths to keep the project top secret until the 11th hour (they almost succeeded, but not quite), much to the chagrin of other distributors, such as A24 or even Disney, who don’t like last-minute surprises even if the idea of a live audience watching a viewing party on the big screen is a far cry from the sort of frenzy surrounding her Eras Tour. She announced the Oct. 3-Oct. 5 special event on Sept. 19 in a well-orchestrated social media post informing fans that advance tickets would go sale that day at 12:12 local time for $12, in keeping with Swift’s longtime relationship with numbers (Showgirl is her 12th album). Consumers can expect to pay more for Imax and other premium large format screenings.
“I hereby invite you to a *dazzling* soirée, The Official Release Party of a Showgirl: Oct 3 – Oct 5 only in cinemas,” Swift wrote across social media on Sept. 19. “You’ll get to see the exclusive world premiere of the music video for my new single ‘The Fate of Ophelia,’ along with never before seen behind-the-scenes footage of how we made it, cut by cut explanations of what inspired this music and the brand new lyric videos from my new album The Life of a Showgirl. Looks like it’s time to brush off that Eras Tour outfit or orange cardigan… Tickets are on sale now. Dancing is optional but very much encouraged.”
Like her tour itself, The Eras Tour film was a phenomenon when opening in 2023 to a huge $93.2 million domestically on its way becoming the top grossing concert film of all time with $261.6 million in global ticket sales. Swift and her team financed the $15 million project herself, bypassing the Hollywood studio system and partnering with AMC Theatres, the country and world’s largest cinema circuit, AMC Theatres Distribution is releasing Showgirl in partnership with Variance Films in the U.S. and Canada, and with Piece of Magic Entertainment in other international markets.
This weekend, the one-hour-and-30-minute film also opens in its first 18 international markets. It will continue its international rollout throughout October.
Showtimes begin Oct. 3 — the day of the album’s release — at 3 p.m. local time.
Both Avatar and Smashing Machine will host Thursday previews.
This picturesque farm in rural Virginia is Dwayne Johnson’s very private sanctuary, with a well-stocked pond that he usually fishes alone. “Just me,” he said, “and I’ll bring the girls here, and it’s magical. Just the way the property is set up, I never have to see anybody. And I know it sounds crazy, and maybe kind of weird, but that’s fun for me.”
I asked, “What does that do for you?”
“Peace,” he replied.
Dwayne Johnson and Tracy Smith test their luck.
CBS News
Peace has been hard to come by lately. Last month, Johnson made his first trip to the Venice Film Festival, for what is probably the most ambitious film of his career, “The Smashing Machine.” He plays the real-life mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr, a two-time world champion who fought drug addiction and depression.
Johnson endured three hours of makeup and prosthetics a day to look like Kerr, and he’s never played anyone quite so real before. But it’s something he says he’s been aching to do.
“For years, I’ve been dreaming and hoping,” he said. “My desire was to play not only a dramatic role, but something that I felt like I could really sink my teeth into, and rip myself open. You hear that term. I just didn’t want to do drama. I wanted to do something that really allowed me to do that.”
To watch a trailer for “The Smashing Machine” click on the player below:
I asked, “This is a big, raw role. Did you have any doubts that you could do it?”
“When it became real, yes,” he said.
Director Benny Safdie paired Johnson with Emily Blunt as Mark Kerr’s volatile wife, Dawn Staples. The two last worked together in Disney’s 2021 film “Jungle Cruise,” the kind of film on which Johnson built his multi-billion-dollar career.
“I was chasing something for a lot of years, and what I was chasing was box office,” he said. “And there’s a part of me, the brain [that goes], ‘Don’t rock the boat. Stay in this zone. Everyone’s happy. You’re paying the bills.’ But the heart is like, ‘Yeah. But you’re not being fulfilled.’”
“Did you feel like that, you weren’t being fulfilled?” I asked.
“One hundred percent,” Johnson said. “But I was really nervous. And on day one, I remember Benny coming to me, and Emily as well, [they] said, ‘Are you scared?’ I went, ‘Yes.’”
“You flat out said, ‘Yes, I’m scared’?”
“Absolutely. I am.”
And Dwayne Johnson doesn’t scare easily.
His father was a professional wrestler, and with dad on the road a lot of the time, young Dwayne grew up with his share of trauma. When he was 15, Dwayne and his mom were evicted from their apartment because they couldn’t pay the rent.
He moved around a lot, and eventually started wrestling on local TV in Memphis, which he showed us in 2022.
We also saw where he stayed back then: a dilapidated trailer in nearby Mississippi.
The trailer park kid fought his way out of poverty, became the wrestling legend known as “The Rock,” and eventually moved into movies, from action (the “Fast and the Furious” series) to animation (“Moana”).
For “The Smashing Machine,” he had to find a way to transform into someone whose whole world was coming apart, like the scene where Mark Kerr loses his first fight. To conjure up the feelings of despair on camera, Johnson knew right where to go. “I went back to what it’s like being a 15-year-old kid and coming home and being evicted,” he said.
I asked, “You said it felt like you were ripping yourself open. What do you think that did for you, Dwayne Johnson, ripping yourself open like that?”
“The thing that I was running from, which was ripping myself open, is actually the thing that I needed the most,” he replied, “because it made me realize that the thing I love, which is acting and telling these stories, now I see it in a different world.”
These days, Johnson talks a lot about gratitude. At his property in Virginia, far from the trailer in Mississippi, he said, “Even more reason to be grateful.”
Actor Dwayne Johnson (“The Smashing Machine”), with correspondent Tracy Smith.
CBS News
One thing he won’t talk about: Oscar buzz. “No, no, I can’t, I can’t,” he said. “The thought that that is even a question? … You know, trailer park kid.”
The married father of three will be starting work on another “Moana” film soon, and also another drama. Yes, Dwayne Johnson will always be The Rock, but as any scientist can tell you, rocks can change.
This Rock, for one, seems smaller now. “Yeah. Svelte!” he laughed. “Because I’m preparing for a role.”
“So, this really is, this is like a new era for you?”
“It’s a new, I wouldn’t say, chapter. I would say new book. A whole new book. And I love it.”
Tracy Smith is an award-winning correspondent for “CBS News Sunday Morning” and “48 Hours,” who joined CBS News in 2000. Smith has covered a wide range of subjects, producing revealing interviews with news-making artists to moving, in-depth reporting.
Action movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says he tapped into some childhood trauma to play mixed martial arts & UFC fighter Mark Kerrin in the new film “The Smashing Machine.” He reveals to Tracy Smith that he told costar Emily Blunt and director Benny Safdie he was scared to take on the role, and talks about where he finds peace nowadays: his own fishing hole.
Even as the threat of a tsunami swamping Hawaii had passed on Wednesday, social media posts were still circulating claims that Oprah Winfrey had refused immediate access to a private road that would allow residents a shorter evacuation route.
The warnings followed one of the century’s most powerful earthquakes, an 8.8 magnitude quake that struck off a Russian peninsula and generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a wide swath of the Pacific. Posts on X and TikTok contended Winfrey refused to open her private road, or was slow to do so during the evacuation.
But the roadway does not actually belong to Winfrey, and efforts to open the road to the public started soon after the tsunami warning was issued.
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: Winfrey owns the private road and refused to allow public access for residents trying to reach higher ground, only relenting following public pressure.
FACT: This is false. Despite being commonly known as “Oprah’s road,” the portion of Kealakapu Road is privately owned — but not by Winfrey. It belongs to Haleakala Ranch, which also owns the land surrounding the road, its president Scott Meidell told The Associated Press. Winfrey has an easement agreement with the ranch, which allows her to use and make certain improvements to the road, her representative told the AP in a statement. Winfrey has paved the road as part of the agreement, Meidell said.
The decision to open the road to the public is principally up to the landowner, Winfrey’s representative noted. Meidell said Haleakala Ranch “had conversations with Ms. Winfrey’s land management staff during this process. So, they’re consulted to be sure.”
Haleakala Ranch contacted the local fire department and the Maui Emergency Management Agency just after 3 p.m. local time, shortly after the tsunami warning went into effect, Meidell said. The road was made accessible shortly after 5 p.m., he said, and ranch personnel assisted in the evacuation of around 150 to 200 vehicles until the final group of cars were escorted up the road at 7 p.m.
Maui County officials said in a press release shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday that “Oprah’s road” was accessible to the public, an advisory repeated in a 9:30 p.m. update. But Meidell said further evacuations weren’t necessary after 7 p.m. because police had confirmed “at that point the highway was completely empty of traffic.”
Maui police and the Maui Emergency Management Agency did not immediately return the AP’s requests for comment.
“As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false,” a representative for Winfrey wrote in a statement first disseminated to news outlets Tuesday night. The decision to open the road was made quickly “when the warning was issued to evacuate, working with local officials and Oprah’s Ranch,” the representative added in a statement Wednesday.
Cars were escorted in separate caravans that each “had a lead vehicle and a sweep vehicle to make sure that there weren’t any incidents on the mountain road,” Meidell said.
Haleakala Ranch encompasses nearly 30,000 acres of open space from the southern shoreline to Upcountry Maui, according to its website, and has been family-owned and operated since the late 1800s. The private road connects a public roadway with a highway on the island’s oceanside.
Some Hawaii residents have long expressed frustration with the large swaths of land that wealthy public figures like Winfrey own on Maui and have advocated against short-term rentals that dot the region and worsen the already low housing supply. The islands have faced a chronic housing shortage only exacerbated in 2023 when a deadly wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina, a town on Maui and the historic former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. The wildfire was the deadliest in U.S. history in a century that left more than 100 people dead.
Users claimed with no evidence then that Winfrey had hired private firefighters to protect her land before the fires started, and hired security to keep others of her land during the evacuations. Some X users also spread false claims linking Winfrey to the cause of the blaze. Winfrey teamed up with Dwayne Johnson to launch the People’s Fund for Maui and committed $10 million to help residents who lost their homes in the wildfires. The fund raised almost $60 million as of April 2024.
In 2019, Winfrey confirmed on X, then Twitter, that county officials were given permission to use the private road immediately after a brush fire started on Maui’s southern area. The road ultimately was not used, Maui County spokesperson Chris Sugidono told the AP at the time.
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Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting.
The team behind Moana 2 is ready to welcome viewers back into the powerful world of the title characters and her fellow islanders.
During a press event held Monday at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif., the filmmakers debuted the first 30 minutes from the sequel to the 2016 animated feature. After screening the footage, co-directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller and co-writer Jared Bush took the stage to tease the new adventures for Moana that take place three years after the first movie.
Hitting theaters Nov. 27, Disney’s Moana 2 will include five new original songs written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, and the first 30 minutes of the film features two of the musical numbers. Reprising their voice roles from the original Moana are Auli’i Cravalho as the lead character and Dwayne Johnson as demigod Maui.
“The opening song was really meant to be the biggest welcome back into the world of Moana,” Hand explained. “We really wanted to nail that energy. Obviously, the sound of the music is reminiscent from the first film, but also bringing us up to speed as to where Moana is at in her life now and where her island is at as well.”
Moana 2
Courtesy of Disney
The sequel’s story focuses on Moana answering a call from her ancestors and assembling a small crew to set out on a treacherous ocean voyage to find a mysterious island. A later scene was also screened, showing Moana and her friends facing off against the dangerous but diminutive Kakamora tribe.
“We really thought a lot about what it means to grow as a leader,” said Ledoux Miller. “As you mature, you learn that there are consequences to your actions. The things that you do, the choices you make, affect the people around you, and we really wanted to put Moana through her paces as a leader and have to see who she would have to be on the water when she had people with her.”
That said, there is also time for playfulness on the journey. “We wanted to have fun, and what’s more fun than a bunch of people who don’t know how to be on the ocean, having to go up against the biggest tests possible?” Ledoux Miller added.
The project was initially planned as a Disney+ streaming series until Disney chief Bob Iger announced that Moana 2 had instead evolved to become a feature film. The team discussed how the project changed over the course of its path to the theatrical release.
“The main core characters and the main themes are the themes that we were setting up to tell with the series,” said Derrick. “But then we had to rightsize it in a very dramatic way to make sure it was servicing a feature format. So there were some things that didn’t exactly fit from the series to the feature. But for me, one of the things I love is that everything blends through Moana and her personal growth.”
Bush agreed and added, “All of us felt like, it’s this unbelievable opportunity to tell this story on a very epic scale, which, in the world of Moana, is exactly what you want. The series version also had that epic quality, but knowing this version is going to be shown on the biggest screens in the world, it really allowed us to go all in on all of that.”
The film’s team debuted the latest trailer last month at D23, where Cravalho and Johnson were involved in a musical presentation. Before that, Disney shared Moana 2 footage and behind-the-scenes stories during a presentation at the Annecy Animation Festival in France in June.
“Maui is singing again — singing in keys that don’t exist,” Johnson told the D23 crowd. “And my hair looks fantastic in Moana 2.”
Also returning from the original Moana voice cast are Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger and Alan Tudyk. Christina Chen and Yvett Merino serve as producers.
The cast of A24‘s upcoming film The Smashing Machine has grown, with Heavyweight Boxing Champion Oleksandr Usyk officially signing onto the film.
Usyk will join an already star-studded cast that includes Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, in the biopic that is written and directed by Benny Safdie. The project tells the story of the life of legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr. No other casting information is available as of now.
Usyk is coming off of the biggest week of his boxing career. This past weekend, he defeated Tyson Fury to become the newly crowned Undisputed Heavyweight Boxing Champion. As a professional boxer, Usyk holds a record of 22-0.
What do we know about The Smashing Machine?
In December 2023, A24 announced that Johnson and Safdie were collaborating on The Smashing Machine. Along with directing the movie, Safdie — known for co-directing 2017’s Good Time and 2019’s Uncut Gems alongside his brother, Josh Safdie — also wrote the screenplay.
“The Smashing Machine is a drama based on the story of Mark Kerr, the legendary MMA fighter from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career,” reads the film’s description. “He struggles with addiction, winning, love, and friendship in the year 2000.”
Kerr is a former wrestler and mixed martial artist. He was previously the subject of the 2003 HBO documentary that was also called The Smashing Machine.
A release date for The Smashing Machine has not yet been announced by A24.
Fans of the WWE are well aware that ‘The Rock’ as a character doesn’t often express regret. Dwayne Johnson, the man behind that character, however, says he has a few regarding the 2020 presidential election.
Specifically, his endorsement of President Joe Biden.
In an interview with Fox News’s Will Cain released earlier today, Johnson lamented the decision to endorse Biden as well as the effect it had on the country afterward.
“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I thought was the best decision for me at that time,” he said.
“I thought back then… I’m in this position where I have some influence,” Johnson continued. “I felt like that then, it’s my job now to exercise my influence and share this is who I’m going to endorse.”
Now though, he isn’t planning on ‘cooking’ up any endorsements for 2024.
🚨BREAKING: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says he regrets endorsing Joe Biden in 2020 and will not endorse him in 2024. pic.twitter.com/oP2DM5ogE5
In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson gave Joe Biden’s campaign a significant boost with a very public endorsement.
“As a registered Independent for years now with centrist ideologies, I do feel that Vice President Biden and Sen. Harris are the best choice to lead our country, and I am endorsing them to become president and vice president of our United States,” he said.
“You guys are both experienced to lead. You’ve done great things. Joe, you’ve had such an incredible career, and you’ve led with such great compassion, heart, drive and soul,” Johnson added. “Kamala, you have been a district attorney, a state attorney, a U.S. senator. You are smart and tough.”
Now, he’s either having regrets or simply wants to stay out of politics so it’s not a detriment to his career.
Cain questioned Johnson on whether or not he’d be weighing into the presidential race again this cycle.
“Am I going to do that again this year? That answer’s no,” he flat-out declared. “I also realized that what that caused back then, was something that tears me up in my gut back then and now, which is division.”
“The takeaway after that — months, and months and months [later] — I started to realize like, oh man, that caused an incredible amount of division in our country.”
People are waking up!
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 5, 2024
‘The Rock’, who is often cited as a potential candidate himself, also said during the interview that while he may not be handing out an endorsement this year, he will support whoever eventually wins.
“I will tell you this: While like a lot of us out there are not trusting of all politicians, I do trust the American people,” he states. “And I trust that whoever they vote for, that’s going to be my president. And that’s who I’m going to support 100 percent.”
You’d think he’d want to walk back Jungle Cruise or Black Adam. Instead, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is expressing some regret about his 2020 endorsement for Joe Biden for president and says he won’t endorse any candidate this year.
“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I thought was the best decision for me at that time,” he told Will Cain on Fox News in an interview posted online Friday. “I thought, ‘I’m in this position where I have some influence and I felt it was my job then to exercise my influence [and] share: This is who I’m going to endorse.’ I’m not going to do that. I was then, the most followed man in the world, and am today, and I appreciate that … but what that caused was something that tears me up in my guts — which is division. That got me. I didn’t realize that then, I just felt like there was a lot of unrest and I’d like things to calm down.”
He continued, “The takeaway after that was it caused an incredible amount of division. I realize now going into this election, I will not do that. My goal is to bring this country together. I believe in that. There will be no endorsement. At this level of influence, I will keep my politics to myself. It is between me and the ballot box. But I will tell you this: Like a lot of us out there, not trusting of all politicians, I do trust the American people and whoever they vote for that is my president and who I will support 100 percent.”
Asked if he was happy with the state of America right now, Johnson replied, “No.”
“Today’s cancel culture, woke culture, division, etcetera — that really bugs me,” he added. “In the spirit of that, you either succumb to that and be what other people want you to be, or you be yourself and be real … and that might make people upset and piss people off, and that’s OK.”
Johnson was also asked once again if he ever plans to run for president and the actor answered, “No, that’s not my intention. I’m not a politician.”
In 2020, Johnson made headlines by sitting down with Biden and Kamala Harris and announcing his endorsement, a message promoted by the Biden campaign.
“As a registered Independent for years now with centrist ideologies, I do feel that Vice President Biden and Senator Harris are the best choice to lead our country, and I am endorsing them to become President, and Vice President, of our United States,” he wrote at the time. “Progress takes courage, humanity, empathy, strength, KINDNESS & RESPECT.”
Johnson’s comments come amid his return to WrestleMania 40, WWE’s flagship event.
While it’s unclear how much celebrity endorsements actually matter, the loss of The Rock’s endorsement isn’t great news for the Biden team as they ramp up to for a rematch with Donald Trump in November. The announcement comes amid plenty of speculation about whether another massive celebrity will renew their endorsement of Biden — Taylor Swift, who likewise endorsed Biden in 2020, hasn’t yet made an endorsement this year.
Johnson is set to star in The Smashing Machine as real-life mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr, a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion. Blunt would star as Dawn Staples, the new wife to Kerr. Safdie has been developing the project with Johnson, who notably started his career as a professional wrestler, since 2019.
A 2002 HBO doc also titled The Smashing Machine detailed Kerr’s professional career and his rise through the fighting world, as well as his battle with an addiction to pain killers that led to an overdose. Kerr earned the nickname “The Smashing Machine” due to no-holds-barred fighting style.
A24 will finance the film, as well as produce alongside Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions, Safdie’s Out for the Count banner, Eli Bush and David Koplan.
Blunt is currently Oscar-nominated for her performance as Kitty Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, also nominated for best picture, among others. Blunt and Johnson costarred in 2021’s Jungle Cruise, for which a sequel is in development with Blunt and Johnson set to reprise their roles. Her other credits include A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II, The Devil Wears Prada, The Girl on The Train, Into the Woods, and The English, among many others.
Emily is represented by CAA, The Artists Partnership and David Weber of Sloane, Offer.
Last year’s Fast Xcame and went with a more muted fanfare than we typically get form the long-running franchise. In the months since its release, Universal’s been relatively mum on the series’ next installment, Fast XI, but leading man Vin Diesel is reaffirming that the film will be a definitive end for the series—and possibly give him a reason to bow out altogether.
Dave Bautista Opens Up About His Relationship With Denis Villeneuve
On Friday, he posted on Instagram about a meeting he’d had with the Fast writers and teams, wherein he really underlined that Fast XI will close the door on the series. “To say the excitement for our finale was incredibly powerful is an understatement,” he wrote. “This grand finale is not just an ending; it’s a celebration of the incredible family we’ve built together. Hope to make you proud!”
Diesel’s post serves as the first real status update on the series after he’d been sued last December by an ex-assistant for sexual battery during Fast Five’s production. Because he’salso been a producer on the films since Fast 4, it’s been a mystery as to how that suit would affect the franchise. At the time, he’d denied the allegations, but he’s largely stayed out of the spotlight—as noted by the Hollywood Reporter, last week’s American Cinematheque Awards marked his first public appearance since the suit in December.
At time of writing, Dwayne Johnson is still meant to headline another spinoff focused on his character Luke Hobbs, and it’s likely Universal will eventually resurrect the entire series after a few years. Fast XI, meanwhile, is still on scheduled to release on April 4, 2025, with the primary Fast X cast all currently set to return.
The Musée Grévin in France unveiled its redo of The Rock’s wax figure statue after the actor’s fans — and Johnson himself — criticized the oddly smooth, fair-skinned original.
The new version has darker skin and the 51-year-old Johnson’s face isn’t quite as Botoxed.
The museum’s PR head Veronique Berecz told Variety: “We found his reaction rather friendly when addressing the fact that his figure was indeed whiter than it should have been. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Dwayne Johnson so we used several photos — but as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos.” The idea of whitewashing, she says, had “nothing do with it. We just made an honest mistake based on the photos we looked at. After we saw all these reactions on different blogs and social networks, we changed it immediately.”
Johnson is still dressed like a golfer, however.
An employee at Musée Grévin adjusting the skin tone on the wax figure of Dwayne Johnson.
STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP via Getty Images
The original statue was compared to Mr. Clean and mocked online. “You know black-ass Samoan The Rock?” said comedian James Andre Jefferson’s. “That’s how Paris thinks he looks. They turned The Rock into a pebble … It looks like The Rock ain’t never seen the sun a day in his life. It looks like The Rock is part of the royal family.”
As Berecz indicated, Johnson himself seemed to take it all in stride, posting on Instagram: “For the record, I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Museum, in Paris France so we can work at ‘updating’ my wax figure here with some important details and improvements — starting with my skin color. And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself.”
Johnson’s next film is Prime Video’s action film Red One, where he stars with Chris Evans. He’s described the Christmas film as a mix between A Miracle on 34th Street and Hobbs & Shaw.
France’s Musée Grévin took Dwayne Johnson‘s comments and social media outcry over the star’s botched wax figure to heart. Within 24 hours, his figure was updated by artists who gave it a slightly darker skin tone with meticulous strokes of oil painting. Johnson’s suburban dad-esque outfit, however, has remained.
“We found his reaction rather friendly when addressing the fact that his figure was indeed whiter than it should have been,” said Veronique Berecz, the museum’s head of PR who has been at the iconic museum for over four decades and worked closely with the likes of Michael Jackson, Nicolas Cage and Donald Sutherland on their respective wax figures.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Dwayne Johnson so we used several photos — but as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos,” she said. “Every time, the sculptor has to determine the exact face and body shapes, the volumes and it’s always a very complicated challenge if we haven’t met the person.”
Berecz revealed that Johnson’s figure required special treatment from the museum from the get-go. “We conducted a casting of models based on his body measurements, and that wasn’t a small undertaking because we had to find a man who had roughly the same body type as Dwayne Johnson — a height of 6’5″ with those huge muscles — and we found our model in a bodybuilding club!” Berecz said.
Asked her thoughts on accusations of the museum “white washing” Johnson’s figure, she said it didn’t cross anyone’s minds. “This has nothing do with it — we just made an honest mistake based on the photos we looked at,” she said. “After we saw all these reactions on different blogs and social networks, we changed it immediately.”
Johnson’s wax figure made his debut at the Grévin Museum a week ago after the “Fast & Furious” actor won the inaugural Grévin Awards by a landslide. The prize is voted on by fans who choose their favorite pop culture icon for the museum to immortalize in wax.
But as reported by Today, the light-skinned wax figure sparked uproar among Johnson’s fans and drew comparisons to Mr. Clean. It took a video from comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. comparing him to David Beckham to prompt a reaction from Johnson, who announced on Instagram that his team would be reaching out to the Paris museum.
“You know Black ass Samoan The Rock? That’s how Paris thinks he looks,” Jefferson Jr. says in the video. “They turned The Rock into a pebble!… it looks like The Rock has never seen the sun a day in his life… You make the rock look like he David Beckham. It looks like The Rock is going to be a part of the royal family. Did y’all even Google him?”
Along with reposting Jefferson Jr.’s video, Johnson wrote on Instagram that he wanted the Grévin to work on “‘updating’ my wax figure here with some important details and improvements — starting with my skin color.” However, Johnson didn’t seem too miffed about it, saying he’d stop by the museum for a drink the next time he’s in Paris.
See the updated version of Johnson’s figure below.
Veronique Berecz fixing the outfit of Johnson’s wax figure at the Musée Grevin in Paris.
When the Musée Grévin in Paris, France, unveiled its new sculpture of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 51, this month, the reaction was instantly critical. Hordes of Johnson’s fans complained the wax figure of the Black Adam actor looked nothing like the A-list star. In fact, many felt the resemblance was closer to the Procter & Gamble mascot Mr. Clean.
The Parisian wax museum has been accused of “whitewashing” Johnson, who is Samoan, as the figure’s skin tone is considerably lighter than Johnson’s.
Johnson himself also took issue with the wax figure and said on Sunday that he is working with the museum to “update” the figure, “starting with my skin color.”
Johnson shared a video about the wax figure from the popular social media creator James Andre Jefferson Jr. to his Instagram account. In the clip, Jefferson disparaged the sculpture artist for “making The Rock look like David Beckham.”
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“It looks like he works at H&R Block or something,” Jefferson quipped. “It looks like The Rock is part of the Royal Family.”
“Is this how y’all felt when you lost The Little Mermaid?” he continued, referencing Disney’s casting of Halle Bailey, who is Black, in the new live-action film. “I understand. Let’s do Uno reverse, y’all get the Little Mermaid back, we get The Rock back.”
(NOTE: The following clip contains foul language. Watch at your own discretion.)
Johnson said he “belly laughed” at Jefferson’s video.
“For the record, I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Museum, in Paris France so we can work at ‘updating’ my wax figure here with some important details and improvements- starting with my skin color,” he wrote.
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“And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself,” Johnson concluded.
Despite Johnson’s desire to improve his waxy likeness, social media users are still enjoying poking fun at the figure.
“They made The Rock look more like The Sourdough Loaf,” one follower wrote under Johnson’s post.
“They got you lookin’ like my iPhone charger bruh,” commented another.
The Rock is not the only celebrity to have a botched wax figure.
Just this week, a wax figure created in 2022 of Lil Wayne for the Hollywood Wax Museum again went viral for its likeness (or lack thereof) to the rapper.
Lil Wayne’s wax figure at the Hollywood Wax Museum, which was revealed in 2022 is currently going viralpic.twitter.com/FOxPvbTSLk
But sometimes, the artist captures the celebrity’s likeness almost too well.
On Sunday, the Las Vegas location of Madame Tussauds unveiled its newest sculpture of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. The rocker called the wax figure “insane” and “unreal” for its incredible similarity to him — down to his many tattoos and the freckle on his ear.
Perhaps the artist of Johnson’s sculpture will get wax inspiration from the success of Barker’s figure.
ET Canada’s Sangita Patel previews her exclusive sit down with Dwayne Johnson
