John Cena Heads For The Janson Directive

In 2014, it looked like Dwayne Johnson would be looking to elbow in on Matt Damon's territory and star in a Robert Ludlum adaptation called The Janson Directive. Cut to four years later and while The Rock's schedule of approximately 572 movies means he hasn't found time in his crowded diary to make it, he's staying attached as producer and will step aside for John Cena to star.

Ludlum’s tome focuses on a consular agent who, after ditching the life of a covert ops warrior after getting sick of sanctioned killing, starts a private security firm.

Partnered with a sharpshooter, the duo functions as a take on The Equalizer, using its skills to help those in need while atoning for former sins. Of course, this being a Ludlum story, it’s not as easy as that. Zodiac and The Amazing Spider-Man writer James Vanderbilt is on script duty, working from a adaptation he began developing with Akiva Goldsman.

Johnson congratulated Cena, his old pal, over on Instagram, jokingly threatening to drop the People's Elbow on him if he messes up. This marks a return to a more action-orientated job for Cena, who has been proving his comedy chops with the likes of Trainwreck and this year's Blockers. The next stage for the new Ludlum movie will be to recruit a director. Universal is backing this one, but there has been no announcement of a release date yet.