The early 2010s may have seen Dwayne Johnson resuscitate one major franchise, but he failed to do the same with another one: Journey to the Center of the Earth. In 2011, Johnson made his debut in the Fast & Furious movies in Fast Five, wherein he played Hobbs. Fast Five was considered one of the best films of the franchise up until that point, and Johnson was hired for three sequel films, as well as the 2019 spinoff Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Fast Five was also the highest-grossing film in the franchise up until that point, making $621.1 million worldwide.
Fast Five’s gross was over double the highest gross of the previous highest–grossing Fast & Furious film. The tides changed rapidly after that, as its follow-up (Fast & Furious 6), had an even higher gross with $788.6 million, peaking with Furious 7 before the Fast & Furious franchise box office began to decline. Given the huge upward trajectory, Johnson can be seen as a huge factor in helping save the Fast franchise. As a result, another franchise attempted to use Johnson in the same way. But in that case, it did not have nearly the same success.
​​Journey 2: Mysterious Island Was Successful (But Journey 3 Never Happened)
Journey 3 Was Cancelled
In 2012, Dwayne Johnson played one of the lead characters in Journey 2: Mysterious Island. It was a sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth, which starred Brendan Fraser in the lead role. Journey 2: Mysterious Island was a box office success, making $335.2 million worldwide. Made on a $79 million budget, Journey 2 turned a decent profit at the box office. Its gross also passed that of the original 2008 film.
In theory, Johnson could have launched another successful film franchise after Journey 2, but Journey to the Center of the Earth 3 never got off the ground. Journey 3, titled Journey 3: From the Earth to the Moon, was originally announced following the success of Journey 2. Journey 3 was later canceled, however. It is important to note that the reasons for the film’s cancelation seemed not financial, but rather related to a creative decision, as Journey 3 ended up being too difficult to write.
Dwayne Johnson Found Himself A Much More Successful Adventure Franchise In 2017
Jumanji Was A Better Sequel Franchise
Though Johnson did not manage to revive the Journey to the Center of the Earth series, he did manage to revive another franchise to great success. This was the adventure series Jumanji, a rebooted series of the 1995 Robin Williams film. Johnson starred in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in 2017. Unlike the Journey franchise, this film’s success did kick off a new franchise, as Welcome to the Jungle was followed up with Jumanji: The Next Level in 2019. After this film, Jumanji 4 was announced, proving the studio has faith in the legs of the franchise.
Both
Jumanji
sequels are available to watch on Hulu while
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
is available to rent on Prime Video.
Jumanji‘s success further showcases the extent to which Dwayne Johnson’s involvement has a way of reinvigorating franchises, even if the opportunity was wasted with Journey to the Center of the Earth. While his success in big-budget tentpoles and franchise movies has been mixed, he seems to excel in roles where he’s allowed to take an old franchise and make it his own, relying on his knack for balancing action and humor to put a new twist on an old IP. With so many upcoming projects on his plate, he’s bound to find another franchise to bring to a new generation soon.
