Peer with us into the magic mirror of time, back to October of 2011, when Martin Campbell was attached to direct a film version of 1980s TV series **The Fall Guy. Though producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald tried to get that iteration of the project up and running at DreamWorks, it hit a brick wall and burst into flames. Now, the duo has teamed up with Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE Films for a potential film that will see Dwayne Johnson taking over Lee Majors’ role and McG hoisting the megaphone{
The Fall Guy, which some of you whippersnappers may be too young to recall (get off our LAWN!) ran between 1981 and 1986 and saw Majors play a Hollywood stunt man who earned extra money working as a bounty hunter. And – who’d-a-thunk it – he was usually able to adapt a big stunt technique to the job of the week.
Though Nicolas Cage was rumoured around the time Campbell was attached, Johnson seems like a good call here: he’s got the physicality (and then some) and can also bring effortless charm to most roles. And you know the filmmakers will be happy with his one-man Twitter/Instagram PR machine.
This is one project that has been bubbling away in the development pressure cooker for ages: Warner Bros. was involved before DreamWorks. Hyde Park will be taking the rights to Toronto to sell at the market, so perhaps The Fall Guy will finally get his moment on the big screen.