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. Coyote v. ACME (2023)
The Warner Bros. live-action and animation hybrid movie shows Wile E. Coyote filing a lawsuit against the ACME Corporation after all its dynamites, tools, and devices malfunctioned and backfired during his endeavors to trap or catch the Road Runner in ‘The Road Runner Show.’ Coyote hires a lawyer, as unlucky as himself, who, after finding out that the owner of ACME is his boss from his previous law firm, decides to help Coyote fight the case and win. Similar to ‘Space Jam’ and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,’ this movie is packed with fun elements, as can be understood from the plot that is a result of events that go back more than 50 years.
‘The Road Runner Show’ ran from 1966 to 1972. The movie has Dave Green as the director and is based on a script penned by Samy Burch and James Gunn. As for the cast, John Cena’s character will represent the ACME Corporation in the court, while Coyote will be represented by Will Forte’s character. The rest of the cast includes Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne, Nancy Linehan Charles, Aimee McGuire, Tone Bell, Stephanie Hill, and Tanya Camargo.
Jeff Bergman is behind the iconic voice of Bugs Bunny, whom we will also see in the movie, along with Tucker Hawkey voicing the Roadrunner and Eric Bauza voicing Wile E. Coyote. The movie is presently in its post-production stages and we are yet to have a specific release date, although it is expected to release towards the end of 2023. Needless to say, working alongside such legendary cartoon characters is not just a privilege for Cena but also a huge responsibility. But for the time being, that’s all the update, folks!
2. Argylle (2024)
A joint venture between Apple and Universal, ‘Argylle’, directed by Matthew Vaughn of ‘Kingsman‘ fame, is a spy thriller movie that takes us on an adventure across the globe. While nothing more about the plot has been revealed other than the fact that it is based on debutant author Elly Conway’s yet-unpublished novel of the same name, the star-studded cast itself is enough to get viewers excited for the large-scale action movie.
It includes Henry Cavill as Argylle, the world’s greatest spy, along with John Cena, Bryce Dallas Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa, Sam Rockwell, and Catherine O’Hara. Other than Cavill, we do not yet know what characters the rest of the cast are playing. The adapted screenplay is written by Jason Fuchs. The movie will be released on February 2, 2024, which means that the novel will come out before February. Now whether you read the novel first or go for the movie first, is completely up to you.
3. 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, 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 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. John Cena hasn’t been locked in for the role yet and further details about the final cast, plot, production, and release date are awaited.
4. 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.
5. 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. The Amazon Studios production is still in its developmental stages, with Cena executive producing it as well. Further updates about the director, the rest of the cast, the production, and the release date are still awaited.
6. 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 finds himself in 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Ricky Stanicky (TBA)
From Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly (‘Dumb and Dumber,’ ‘There’s Something About Mary’) comes an R-rated comedy about three friends who invented an imaginary character Ricky Stanicky to put the blame on for their pranks and misbehavior. But when their partners get suspicious, the guys hire an actor who brings Stanicky to life. The consequences are dangerous but hilarious at the same time. We are pretty sure you can guess who the real-life actor is who plays Stanicky but for those uninitiated, it is John Cena.
The rest of the cast includes Jermaine Fowler and Zac Efron, the guys who use the imaginary character for their purposes, along with William H. Macy, Andrew Santino (the potential 3rd friend), Anja Savcic, Lex Scott Davis, Maya Arielle, and Kaela Daffara. The screenplay is written by Farrelly, Brian Jarvis, and Jim Freeman based on an original script by Jeff Bushnell and Steve Oedekerk. The movie is distributed by Amazon Prime Video, which means it will arrive on OTT once it is done with the post-production process. We are yet to receive any update about its release date.
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