Dwayne Johnson locks in his next action thriller from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

You know Dwayne Johnson — the towering bloke with more muscles than most of us have problems. Over the years, he’s smashed bad guys in Walking Tall, shot things in Doom, and pretty much broken laws of physics in Fast Five. Wrestling semi-literally bulldozed him into action movies, and for a while, all he seemed to do was glare and hit things very convincingly.

But last year, something genuinely interesting happened: Johnson took the lead in The Smashing Machine, an A24 drama that, for once, wasn’t about his biceps. It’s a film about the mental torture of mixed martial arts — basically, the dark side of being an actual hard man. Honestly, it was the first time in ages we got to see The Rock try emotional vulnerability instead of just putting another villain through a wall.

Funny thing is, the gamble paid off. Critics, audiences, the usual suspects all said his acting finally caught up to his physical presence. He nabbed himself a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, which is no small feat for a man who made his screen debut tackling people in Lycra. The Oscars were still a bridge too far, but you can’t say his career isn’t evolving.

Next Up: Free Byrd — More Drama, Less Destruction

According to Variety, Johnson's clearly enjoyed stretching those dramatic muscles, because he's front and centre in his next film, Free Byrd. In this one, he's playing a motorcycle stuntman who's keeping his dementia diagnosis under wraps while pushing for a final, possibly reckless big jump.

If you’re thinking ‘That sounds a touch less silly than his usual stuff’, you’d be right. The pitch for the film is a sort of existential meditation on the mind, the fear of losing yourself, and — honestly — asking for help before it all goes entirely pear-shaped.

Direction comes courtesy of Greg Kwedar, who some of you might know as the bloke who picked up Oscar nominations for Sing Sing and Train Dreams. Bit of a coup to have him at the wheel, and he clearly sees something personally resonant in the material.

'Free Byrd is a gift in many ways. Emblematic of life’s sacred beauty, as well as life’s harsh and callous reality. The subject matter of Free Byrd has become deeply personal to Greg Kwedar and myself as we’ve started to unpack this fateful journey together. Artists Equity have been incredible filmmaking and artistic partners, who not only share Greg’s vision for the film, but who are all connected to our story in their own unique and personal ways. When the mind of a loved one begins to slip away, life sure takes on a whole new meaning.'
— Dwayne Johnson

The Brains Behind It: Artists Equity

If you’ve not clocked it yet, Free Byrd is coming out of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production outfit, Artists Equity. These two have seriously been keeping busy — first there was Air (the Nike/Air Jordan biopic), then The Accountant 2 (which is, yes, somehow real), and more recently, The Rip, featuring Affleck and Damon as fairly dodgy coppers.

• Air – Nike’s Air Jordan gets the dramatic treatment
• The Accountant 2 – Ben Affleck revisits the world of bean counting and hitmen
• The Rip – Netflix original, Affleck & Damon playing bent police officers

Affleck and Damon, who are now somehow CEOs as well as Hollywood veterans, clearly feel this one matters. Here’s what they’re saying about it:

'This is a project that all of us at the company have connected with personally. Greg is one of the most exciting writer-directors working today, and Dwayne is an extraordinary talent and person. We are extremely excited that they have chosen to make this with us and very much look forward to sharing the finished film with audiences.'
— Ben Affleck & Matt Damon

Where Can You Watch It?

There’s no official announcement yet, but with Kwedar’s Train Dreams and Artists Equity’s The Rip both ending up as Netflix originals, it wouldn’t be a shock if Free Byrd lands on the streamer when all’s said and done.