Shubhabrata Dutta
WWE superstar John Cena’s decision to channel his love for entertaining his fans into movies has been fruitful for both him and us. His roles in ‘The Suicide Squad,’ ‘Hidden Strike,’ ‘The Wall,’ ‘The Independent’, and the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise have certainly added to his stardom and popularity. If his mere presence in a movie wasn’t enough, his performance as the titular jingoistic superhero in James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ (a spin-off of ‘The Suicide Squad’), a character found in DC comics, loved by both viewers and critics alike, further catapulted him into mainstream Hollywood action genre. The following list is proof that Cena has a lot in store for us, and if you are his fan, you can be relieved that you will see him a lot more in the future. Here are the upcoming movies and shows he will be a part of.
1. Grand Death Lotto (TBA)
It won’t be wrong to say that Cena is turning into a must-have for action comedies as he stars in ‘Grand Death Lotto.’ Directed by Paul Feig, the Amazon Studios movie chronicles a futuristic cash-crunched California where the Grand Lottery has been established. The catch is that if you win the lottery and then someone kills you before sundown, that person can legally claim your prize. Sounds interesting? So when Katie accidentally gets her hands on the jackpot ticket, jackpot protector Noel has to keep her alive till sundown so that she can claim the prize. But that is not an easy feat as Louis Lewis, Noel’s rival, is after her so that he can claim the prize. If it is an action comedy, it is seemingly going to be a thrilling one.
The cast includes Awkwafina as Katie, John Cena as Noel, and Simu Liu as Louis Lewis, along with Ayden Mayeri, Seann William Scott, Dolly De Leon, Donald Elise Watkins, Sam Asghari, and Murray Hill. Rob Yescombe is behind the script, with Feig executive producing it along with Cena and Yescombe. Currently in the post-production stages, we are yet to get a release date, although we can be sure that it has more chances of arriving on Amazon Prime than in the theaters.
2. Heads Of State (TBA)
Even though the plot is this Amazon Studios action thriller is under wraps, the movie has a potentially pitch-perfect casting per se with stars like John Cena, Idris Elba, and Priyanka Chopra involved in it. Ilya Naishuller of ‘Nobody’ fame is the director of the movie that is based on a script by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, with an initial draft by Harrison Query. Both Elba and Chopra have proved their niche for action with ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ and ‘Citadel’ respectively. Having said that, Cena is no stranger to action, either.
Moreover, Elba and Cena have worked together in James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ so the audience is well aware of their on-screen chemistry. Overall, we can expect a power-packed high-octane action thriller. Things will get even more interesting if one of the leads is on the other side of the law. The rest of the cast includes Jack Quaid, Carla Gugino, Paddy Considine, Richard Coyle, Sarah Niles, Huw Novelli, and Katrina Durden. Elba and Cena are executive producers as well. The movie is currently filming and further updates about the release date are awaited.
3. Peacemaker Season 2 (TBA)
The success of ‘Peacemaker’ Season 1 has made WarnerMedia and HBO Max greenlight Season 2 of this superhero series headlined by the DC Comics anti-hero/Captain America caricature Christopher Smith/Peacemaker played to perfection by John Cena. The main cast is expected to make a return in the 7-episode series although there is still time for that as DC head/ show creator James Gunn has stated that the series will arrive after ‘Superman: Legacy’ (also written by Gunn) but precede the events of the series ‘Waller’ that will explore Viola Davis’s character Amanda Waller, the one responsible for the Suicide Squad and its actions. ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 will be a part of Gunn’s DC Universe Chapter One. The returning cast includes Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Harcourt, Steve Agee as Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Adebayo. Filing is set to begin in summer of 2024. Further details about the plot and a release date are awaited although it is expected to arrive in Fall 2025.
4. The Janson Directive (TBA)
Based on the 2002 novel by Jason Bourne author Robert Ludlum of the same name, the movie revolves around Paul Janson, an ex-Navy SEAL who becomes a corporate security expert and consultant after getting sick of the sanctioned killings and quitting the force. But when a rescue mission to save a VIP goes wrong, he becomes the target of a termination order beyond alteration. The only way to protect himself is to look for clues that eventually bring him to a large-scale scandal.
This project will show Cena diving into action in all its seriousness, and we can expect Jason Bourne-level stuff. As per the latest reports, John Hlavin and James Vanderbilt have penned the script of the movie, which is presently in its pre-production stage. Dwayne Johnson is one of the producers along with Cena, which makes the project their first tag-team venture outside the ring. Further updates about the director, cast, and release date are awaited.
5. Killer Vacation (TBA)
‘Killer Vacation’ is an action comedy that is bringing together Jason Momoa and John Cena after their last outing as foes in ‘Fast X’, the 10th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise. The plot is currently under wraps, but what we can tell you is that the movie is currently in its scripting stage, with Brian and Mark Gunn — siblings of director James Gunn, working on it.
Both Cena and Momoa are in charge of significant roles in the DC Extended Universe; Cena as Christopher Smith AKA Peacemaker and Momoa as Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman. However, they wanted to carry forward the chemistry that they forged on the sets of ‘Fast X’, to other movies. Since the Warner Bros. Discovery production is in its scripting stage, updates about the director, the rest of the cast, or the release date are awaited.
6. Officer Exchange (TBA)
Besides ‘Killer Vacation,’ Cena is part of another action comedy penned by Ben Zazove and Evan Turner. The story revolves around a cop named Shepherd AKA Shep, who teams up with an Indian police officer to bring down a diamond smuggling racket in India. The actor is roped in to appear as the leading man Shep and also serves as an executive producer. The Amazon Studios production is still in its developmental stages, with Cena executive producing it as well. It is receiving treatment based on a script by Evan Turner and Ben Zazove. Further updates about the director, the rest of the cast, the production, and the release date are still awaited.
7. Duke Nukem (TBA)
As far as American pop culture is concerned, only a few casting decisions will be able to match that of John Cena playing the live-action video game character Duke Nukem. Nukem is the Hollywood action hero caricature and the protagonist of a $1 billion video game franchise that paved the way for first-person shooter video games since the first game was released in 1991. Needless to say, Cena has proved his worth for the role with his portrayal as the hyper-masculine hunk in ‘Peacemaker’; the only difference between the two is that while Peacemaker fights crime, Duke Nukem fights aliens. In 2018, Andrew Form, the game’s producer, confirmed that Cena is associated with the movie.
Since then, there have been no updates until now, with reports resurfacing about the movie being in the pipeline. Creators of the popular ‘The Karate Kid’ spin-off show ‘Kobra Kai’, namely Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, are set to produce the movie whose rights have been acquired by Legendary Entertainment, the production giant behind films including ‘Dune,’ ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, and ‘The Hangover’ trilogy. Jean Julien Baronnet of Marla Studios, the house that produced the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game adaptation, will also be producing it. While John Cena is in for the role, further details about the final cast, plot, production, and release date are awaited.
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