News: The Rock

The hulking ex-wrestler may not have made the movie A-list, but he’s doing an OK job at landing leading roles in second-rate fare like this week’s Gridiron Gang.

Next up is another American Football-themed film, albeit one with an added touch of family drama and comedy. In The Game Plan he’ll play a star quarterback, happily living the bachelor life, who suddenly discovers he’s got a 7-year-old daughter from an old relationship. Could this be his Kindergarden Cop? If it gets a release on this side of the pond (it’s due in October in the US), maybe we’ll find out.

More hopeful is the more traditional, hugely silly-sounding action fare of Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run – the computer game version of which is already out – featuring The Rock as an over-the-top ex-fighter pilot (quite how someone his size fitted into the cockpit, ho knows) turned super-spy, complete with a gadget-laden car that can turn into a motorbike. Yes, really…

Most promising, though, is another spy film – this time the Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway-starring comedy Get Smart, due 2008 and looking to have the near-legendary Terrence Stamp as a suitably over-the-top villain. Could be fun.