Remember that time when Bill Hader was linked to the lead role in the long developing "Baywatch" movie? Yeah, that didn’t happen, but the movie still is, and now it’s firing on all cylinders as it has bagged an unlikely leading man.
The charismatic Dwayne Johnson, who should really know better than subjecting himself to stuff like this, is starring in "Baywatch." For real. Presumably, the plan is to make it a comedy, with Sean Anders and John Morris ("We’re the Millers") directing from a new script by Justin Malen, who is something of a rising talent thanks to his Black List script "Bastards," which helped get him the gig to write "Bad Teacher 2."
That said, he’s just the latest in a long string of writers to try and crack the movie over the years, with "Baywatch" stalled forever in development. However, The Rock is the most high profile name to be attached so far, even though he has a pretty crowded plate, which includes franchise pics "Shazam" and more "Journey" movies.
But where’s the will there’s a way, and with a big star now linked, you can bet Paramount will move more quickly to get this done. So get ready to go back to the beach. [THR]
