Jokin’ John may have found his niche, and I don’t mean beach ball salesman.
WWE Superstar John Cena’s transition to Hollywood has largely been via supporting roles in comedies like Trainwreck and Sisters. The news he landed a major role in the Transformers prequel Bumblebee signals a move toward bigger budget action films, but it doesn’t completely shy away from what helped him get his foot in the door. It’s likely there will be at least some laughs in an 80s set flick focused on the Autobot’s fan favorite underdog/sidekick robot-car, after all.
Now Cena is rumored for a starring role in another movie with jokes and talking cars. ScreenRant reports there are talks of Knight Rider reboot, done in the smartalec-style of the recent 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street movies. John would play the role of David Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight character from the television show.
And in the role of K.I.T.T., his talking Trans Am? The rumor is Cena could have frequent Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson collaborator Kevin Hart as his co-star.
The site cautions that none of this is a done deal, and there have been numerous Knight Rider plans which failed to materialize over the years. Outside of the Jump Street movies, the meta repackaging of old TV franchises haven’t seen much success at the box office lately, including Rocky’s Baywatch flopping earlier this year.
But it’s worth noting that Cena’s name is popping up in association with leading roles in bigger movies.
Stay tuned.