One of the weirdest parts of John Cena's acting career is that he hasn't made a good action movie yet. He's tried (12 Rounds, The Marine), but they're ho-hum by even DTV fiends' standards. Where the WWE superstar has really excelled is comedy (see: Sisters, Blockers), utilizing his big, muscled mug to sell gags with rather startling ease.
But failure will never stop Cena from trying, as he's teaming up with Jackie Chan for Project X (working title), where the two men of action will try and rescue a Chinese-run oil refinery in the Middle East from terrorists looking to swipe that black gold. Cena is actually replacing Sylvester Stallone, who dropped out of the movie.
Project X is being co-produced by Chan, directed by Scott Waugh - whose Need For Speed is a somewhat underrated hoot - and written by Arash Amel (who has a "story by" credit on Netflix's The Titan, but try not to hold that against this otherwise awesome-sounding riff). This is just one of a few non-comedic roles Cena is trying on for size, including a co-starring part in the upcoming Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee, and the Robert Ludlum Extended Universe entry, The Janson Directive.
I have two hopes for this project. The first is that it's actually good. The second is that folks actually go pay money to see it (unlike Chan's last action movie, The Foreigner, which was mostly ignored despite being a ton of fun). It feels like Cena is one great collaboration from being a bona fide action stud, and maybe Project X is the movie that will take him to that level.
No release date is being eyed as of yet, but we'll keep you updated as this expedition trudges along.