Before the days of Sega’sSonic the Hedgehogand Nintendo’sSuper Mario Bros. smashing box office records worldwide,popular video games had a bad streakmaking the transition to the big screen. Similarly,Dwayne Johnsonstruggled to become the nextArnold Schwarzeneggerearly in his acting career before he found success with theFast & Furiousfranchise, Disney’sMoana, and theJumanjisequels. In both cases,the film industry was not ready to take Johnson and the gaming craze seriously enoughuntil the right projects came along.
When Universal planned to have the popular WWE superstar-turned-actor headline an adaptation of Midway’s arcade classicSpy Hunterin the mid-2000s, there was serious potential to launch an exciting franchise to rivalJames BondandThe Bourne Identityseries.Johnson’s natural charisma and larger-than-life physiquemade him the perfect fit for a superspy who uses a high-tech supercar to battle evildoers worldwide. Add to that the hiring of the legendaryJohn Wooto elevate the action sequences with his cinematic Hong Kong style. Unfortunately, the world was not ready for this ambitious action-adventure epic.
What Is ‘Spy Hunter’ About?
Created by game designerGeorge Gomez, whowas inspired by the music from the Bond films, the originalSpy Hunterarcade game from 1983 followed an unnamed secret agent who battles enemies and protects civilian vehicles on a freeway using a souped-up sportscar called the G-6155 Interceptor. The game’s popularity in the arcades spawned sequels and spinoffs for multiple gaming platforms. The most popular of them all was a Playstation 2 remake in 2001 thatsold 900,000 copies in the U.S.and featured a developed premise that would serve as the blueprint for the potential film.
In 2003,Fast & FuriousproducerNeal H. Moritzsaw potential in a big-screen adaptation capitalizing on his hit 2001 street-racing action picture. Johnson was coming off the heels of some early movie success withThe Mummy Returnsand its spinoffThe Scorpion Kingwhen he signed on to star inSpy Hunter. Not only was the projecta potential franchise starter for Johnson, but it would also have been the perfect vehicle to compete with his future co-star and rivalVin Diesel, who just had success with another subverted spy-adventure blockbusterxXx.
The Writer of ‘Collateral’ And John Woo Were Involved In The Development Of ‘Spy Hunter’
Pera script review from Latino Reviewin 2006,Spy Hunter’s screenplay byStuart Beattie(Collateral,G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) wasan action-packed spectaclewith chase sequences rivalingRaiders of the Lost ArkandBad Boys II. Johnson was set to play Alex Decker, a special agent of the International Espionage Service (I.E.S.) whose purpose is to combat an enemy organization NOSTRA. The rouge group of spies profit from global conflict, and Decker must locate an ex-MI5 agent responsible for creating the I.E.S. who possesses a military encryption code to access the Pentagon.
Beattie’sSpy Hunterscript takes all the fun of a Bond film and meshes it with various Easter eggs from the video games. One of the game’s popular features was the Interceptor’s ability to transform into other vehicles, including a speedboat. Beattie’s script called for similar moments, such as the Interceptor turning into a snowmobile in a Himalayas chase sequence and later a jet ski. Even the use ofHenry Mancini’sPeter Gunntheme song was written into the opening sequence as a nod to the ’80s arcade game (which heavily featured the song).
When Woo signed on to directSpy Hunter, he already hadMission: Impossible 2under his belt. As his biggest Hollywood hit, Woo helpedTom Cruisetransition from dramatic heartthrob to bonafide action star. He helped Cruise make the Ethan Hunt character less of an agent surviving by his wits and more of an athletic, two-gun-wielding superspy. Johnson needed a director of Woo’s talent to make Alex Decker a memorable, cool action hero similar to the protagonists in hisHong Kong films. Butthe dream of Johnson and Woo togetherwould not come to pass.
Dwayne Johnson Is Now the 13th-Highest Grossing Movie Star in Global Box Office History
Johnson’s ‘Red One’ has under-performed at the box office.
Multiple Rewrites And Dwayne Johnson’s Box Office Failures Derailed ‘Spy Hunter’
Spy Hunterunderwent multiple draftsfrom writers includingMichael Brandt,Derek Haas,Zak Penn,Mark Swift, andDamien Shannon. The rewrites caused production delays year after year. Come 2006, Johnson suffered from several box-office disappointments. One notable flop was an adaptation of another video game classic,Doom, which was produced by Universal. Meanwhile, Woo was having bad luck in Hollywood when his war epicWindtalkersand theBen Afflecksci-fi thrillerPaycheckfailed to connect with audiences, effectively putting his American filmmaking ambitions on ice. The prospect of having two talents with several flops involved in a big-budget franchise starter was too risky for Universal to take a chance on.
Johnson eventually fulfilled hisSpy Huntercommitment by appearing as Decker in the critically derived video gameSpy Hunter: Nowhere to Runin 2006. The film adaptation has since gone into turnaround to Warner Bros.,who bought out Midway and its libraryafter the publisher filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Though the project had its share of restarts and pauses, includingResident Evil’s Paul W.S. AndersonandVenom’s Ruben Fleischerattached to direct at different times, no one has been able to get the Interceptor started. Beattie reflected on the experience in a2009 interview with Colliderwhen he still held out hope forSpy Hunter’s future. “If it’s still available, and Dwayne’s still interested five to 10 years from now … if I could ever do it, I would," Beattie said. “But until then it just needs that filmmaker that a studio will trust with that kind of budget. But being a fun, summer movie and with Dwayne, it would kill.”
