Day: October 3, 2025

Yes, The Rock is in “Jem and the Holograms.” This disastrous movie has a scene where big names like Chris Pratt and Alicia Keys say how much they love the band, and Johnson is among them. Either he was doing this as a favor, or someone involved with the movie really has something on The Rock.

Yeah, we’ve never heard of this movie, either. But Johnson is in it for a split second playing a mugger. It was never released theatrically in the US, instead finding a home on the Disney Channel and DVD hoping to attract fans of Britney Spears and NSYNC, who also make cameos.

Johnson has another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in this Tyler Perry movie. Johnson shows up at the very end of the movie as a dashing philanthropist who introduces himself to Janet Jackson’s character. The movie ends implying that sparks may be flying between the two.

This forgettable comedy also sports a Johnson cameo. In this one, he plays an air marshal who has to calm down a frantic Kristen Bell. If anything, it shows Johnson’s ability to hold his own doing some comedic work.

Right when Johnson was kicking his movie career into high gear with the release of “Fast & Furious 6” in May 2013, Lionsgate put this movie out four months later … straight to DVD. Starring alongside Emma Roberts and Liam Hemsworth, Johnson plays an NYPD detective trying to stop a heist planned by Hemsworth’s character. It’s really not worth your time.

This one isn’t worth your time, either. Johnson reprises his role as The Scorpion King from “The Mummy Returns” for this standalone movie. Though it hit No. 1 at the box office its opening weekend, the movie is so forgettable that Johnson didn’t even come back for the sequel, which recast his role and was released on DVD (a third movie went straight to DVD, too).

Throughout his career, Johnson has tried to capture the hearts of the family audience. This was round one, as Johnson signed on to voice the lead character for this animated movie, about an astronaut who lands on an alien planet. The movie was another forgettable attempt to get Johnson to branch out of his WWE bubble.

Johnson plays a tough guy only known as “Driver” who, following a 10-year prison sentence, sets out to avenge his brother’s murder.

It makes a lot of sense that Johnson signed on to this movie, which is loosely based on the hit video game. But it turned out to be the wrong choice. The movie bombed, and only made it harder for Johnson to find respectability in Hollywood.

However, the same year “Doom” opened, Johnson starred in the “Get Shorty” sequel playing a gay bodyguard. The movie is forgettable compared to the original, but Johnson is one of its few highlights.

Playing Roadblock in the live-action version of the iconic toy and Saturday morning cartoon, Johnson jumped on the sequel. But even he couldn’t give the franchise the jolt it needed to be successful.

Marking the final time Johnson would include his WWE ring name, “The Rock,” in a movie’s credits, this stale Disney movie was another attempt by Johnson to get families to trust him with their kids. It shows him going in the right direction, but he’s not there yet.

Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel put their past drama aside for the good of the franchise. Johnson’s Hobbs character returned for a brief cameo in the latest “Fast” movie.

We’ll see if Johnson returns for the final movie in the franchise (scheduled for release in April 2027), and if he’ll share screen time with Diesel.

Nothing about this movie works. Even with all his jokes and physical feats, he couldn’t save this one.

A remake of the 1973 film starring Joe Don Baker, Johnson plays a former US soldier who comes home to clean up the crime and corruption there (with Johnny Knoxville by his side). Like most of Johnson’s movies, especially earlier in his career, the critics hated it. At this point in his career, The Rock getting top billing in movies was good, but he wasn’t getting the top projects.

What a difference a decade makes! Here Johnson was the lead of a major studio tentpole playing a character known the world over. The critics still hated it, but it was a respectable global performer at the worldwide box office, earning close to $250 million.

Jumping on a project that had been in development for years, Johnson did the most with what he was given, playing a father who goes undercover to save his son. The movie was another bust, but it showcased Johnson’s evolving acting abilities.

Family audiences began to accept Johnson after this Disney hit, which is a remake of the 1975 movie “Escape to Witch Mountain.”

In Johnson’s first major movie role, he plays the Scorpion King. At one point in the movie, he shows up in probably the worst CGI form ever to appear onscreen. Despite that, this was the first step for Johnson in building a movie career.

The cameos aren’t over yet! Johnson shows up in this movie as a confident S.W.A.T. team member who’s supposed to be the savior of the overwhelmed Reno officers. Instead, he blows himself up with his own grenade. Johnson shows off his wit and brings a cool factor to this appearance, finally showing he knows how to do cameos right.

Trying out his dramatic chops, Johnson plays a counselor to juvenile teens who gets them to rethink their lives through playing football.

Filling in for Brendan Fraser in this sequel to 2008’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” Johnson holds his own as the lead of a larger-than-life 3D action movie.

Johnson finally cracked the family market with this hit comedy about a minor-league hockey player (Johnson) who must be a tooth fairy for a week.

The most ambitious role Johnson has taken in his career to date, Richard Kelly’s cult classic has him doing things that were beyond anything he’d previously attempted on screen.

Johnson masters the cameo with this one. Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson play hero cops whose egos take them too far. While chasing a suspect, they jump off a building aiming for the bushes and find life-ending cement.

Starring in a movie alongside the likes of Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway had to be a confidence booster for Johnson, who proves here he can play alongside some of the biggest stars in the world.

Johnson reteams with his “Jumanji” reboot franchise director Jake Kasdan for this big-budget Christmas movie from Amazon.

Johnson costars with Chris Evans as the two set out on an adventure to rescue Santa (J.K. Simmons).

Like many of Johnson’s movies, there’s a lot more focus put towards the CGI effects and action sequences than the story.

Johnson voices Superman’s best friend, his dog Krypto, in this animated movie in which all the legendary superheroes’ pets save the day. It’s fun, but not very memorable.

This is the movie that made everyone in Hollywood realize that Johnson could be a global star. The disaster movie didn’t just make a profit, it was Warner Bros.’ biggest box office hit of 2015.

Johnson was a producer on this biopic on the rise of real WWE wrestler Paige, so of course he shows up in a cameo. Here, he brushes off his “The Rock” persona to lay some hilarious smackdown on the lead (played by Florence Pugh) and her brother after they ask for advice. 

This movie wasn’t a commercial success (though it found its audience on DVD and when it hit cable TV), but after the “The Mummy Returns” and “The Scorpion King,” Johnson was finally able to play a modern-day role and showed that he could do more than show off his physique and say a couple of one-liners.

After years of developing his first foray into the superhero genre, Johnson gives everything he’s got to bring Black Adam to the screen, but it’s hardly as rewarding as the other characters we’ve seen him portray.

In this heist movie/buddy comedy, Johnson must not only play the hero, but also match comedic wits with Ryan Reynolds and play a romantic lead opposite Gal Gadot.

Though not always on the mark, Johnson delivers a solid performance overall.

As a dad determined to save his family from a burning 240-story building, Johnson plays this disaster movie with a lot of vulnerability. It proves that even on top, he’s always challenging himself.

Coming off the successful original in 2017, Johnson returns in a sequel that’s even more wacky. In a twist, this time Johnson has to imitate Danny DeVito, who has taken over his game avatar. Thankfully, there are also some great action sequences.

Johnson takes on a bunch of mutants with the help of a super-sized ape, cementing his place as one of the very few profitable action stars left in the business.

Johnson’s work is a highlight of the movie, especially alongside Jason Statham.

Johnson truly joined the “Fast and Furious” family with this one, as he teams with Dom and Brian to go on “one last job.”

Johnson shows off both his action and comedy chops in this expansion of his Hobbs character from the “Fast and Furious” franchise. His chemistry with costar Jason Statham is a highlight, but we’re really paying to see Johnson kick butt … and he does a lot of that in this movie. 

Starring opposite Emily Blunt in Disney’s latest adaptation of one of its theme park rides, Johnson plays a boat captain with a lot of awful puns and a big secret.

Once again, Johnson shows he can hold his own opposite a major star.

Maui is again by Moana’s side in the sequel to the hit 2016 original, complete with new songs to groove to.

Johnson once again is perfect in the demigod role, bringing a mix of comedy and heroics to another Disney hit.

Johnson always gives Hobbs a comic book character quality, but in this one he goes all out, breaking the cast on his arm by just flexing and walking around shooting a massive gun.

Starring alongside Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Mackie as bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion and kidnapping scheme, Johnson is the highlight as the coke-snorting, born-again loose cannon Paul Doyle.

Johnson’s comedic timing is perfect while starring opposite Kevin Hart. Audiences thought so, too, as the movie was one of the biggest box office hits of 2016.

Not only did this movie put Johnson on the path to top-level superstardom, but his casting also gave new life to the “Fast and Furious” franchise. After a string of roles that went against type, Johnson dove in head first to a part that focused on his tough guy strengths. The audience responded. The rest is history.

Thanks to the magic of Disney and the songwriting talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Johnson voicing the character of Demigod Maui is perhaps one of his most touching performances to date. All those years of trying to get into the family market finally paid off. Pulling off the singing is icing on the cake.

Johnson delivers his first-ever Oscar bait role by playing Mark Kerr, who was such an unstoppable fighter in the UFC during the late 1990s that he was dubbed “The Smashing Machine.”

But in that time, Kerr battled substance abuse and a tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend (played by Emily Blunt).

Johnson shines playing the gentle giant Kerr, whose real opponent is greater than any man he faces in the ring.

This role is everything Johnson wants to show he’s capable of in a movie: He’s tough, he’s funny, and he’s vulnerable. It’s a multi-layered performance that, by the end, you hate to see disappear once the kids leave the Jumanji game.